Microscopic Opera
In "Microscopic Opera" (2011) by Matthijs Munnik, an audiovisual installation, tiny nematodes 'C. elegans' perform an opera under microscopes.
projections; photo: Jan Sprij
In Microscopic Opera, the tiny nematodes C. elegans perform an abstract opera under a microscope.
"I'm looking at common scientific research tools from an artistic and theatrical perspective to discover new qualities. In this installation the movement of the worms is translated into sound in real time. For this project I used worms that each have a mutation that makes them move in a different way. This is often used by researchers to easily identify these worms under the microscope, but in Microscopic Opera the different movements of the mutants will produce different sounds, enabling them to perform an abstract opera piece together. You can see the worms moving in real time on big screens behind the microscope set up."
The installation won the Designers & Artists 4 Genomics Award 2010.
http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2011/01/microscopic-opera.php
This project is supported by:
Centre for Society & Genomics
NCB Naturalis
Netherlands Consortium for Systems Biology
Netherlands Genomics Initiative
Waag Society
