ANIMA
ANIMA is a project in development.
In ANIMA I explore time and transience through scobys—living organisms that grow, transform, and ultimately decay. Their fragile structures are in constant flux; time and life unfold within the material.
Time is a recurring theme in my work. In AEON I influenced the passage of time myself, while in LUMEN that influence lay with the viewer. In ANIMA this perspective shifts: here, time reveals itself within the material itself, independent of human intervention. The scobys grow, dry, change color, and perish according to their own rhythm. Time becomes tangible as a force that brings about transformation, without being strictly linear or cyclical.
A new element in ANIMA is symbiosis. Scobys exist thanks to a collaboration between bacteria and yeasts—a fragile balance that can only persist through connection. In this way, the work also becomes an inquiry into coexistence, interdependence, and delicate equilibrium.
ANIMA deepens my earlier explorations. It invites reflection on impermanence and symbiosis, and shows how time unfolds in matter as a shifting, palpable force that continually transforms the work.
ANIMA is currently in its development phase. I am cultivating scobys to experiment further with light, projection, and evolving scoby structures. I am exploring the forms in which scobys can grow so that they metaphorically represent transience and vulnerability.
I am conducting theoretical research on symbiosis, both scientifically and philosophically, and I’m engaging with experts in bio-art.
The Hubrecht Institute for Molecular and Developmental Biology in Utrecht, a biomedical research laboratory, is collaborating with me on this project. Together, we are investigating how to visualize symbiosis in scoby on a microscopic level. The aim is to translate these insights into artistic visualizations through video and photography.
