S+T+ARTS in the City | Artists-in-Residence
Where Dogs Run | Archean Memory Farm

+ About Archean Memory Farm

The project Archean Memory Farm is based on the properties of ancient magnetotactic bacteria (MTB). MTBs are synthesized by magnetosomes formed by magnetite or greigite crystals. They use magnetosomes to move along the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, allowing them to recognize up and down, and sink into zones with minimal oxygen. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTBs) are used in geoecology, mineralogy, biomagnetism, crystallography, biochemistry, biomedicine, and physics. Additionally, the study of biomagnetism helps in determining both climate change (warming-cooling) and changes in the geoecological situation in the sedimentary basin under study (various kinds of pollution).

The metabolic processes inside magnetotactic bacteria naturally become informational processes. The metabolism of magnetotactic bacteria allows for the input, storage, and reading of information. The properties of MTB make it possible to create an artificial geological memory as an analogue or replacement for digital memory, or as a method of algorithmic memory cultivation in living beings. Therefore, for the authors, Archean Memory Farm is a metaphysical model of the “technobiosphere” for testing the calculational abilities of an artificially constructed bio-geo-cyber medium.

The structure of the project Archean Memory Farm:

• Bacteria live and multiply in the bioreactor. Some bacteria (in portions) enter the display container with the prepared medium and magnetite control system in the magnetosomes of the bacteria (most of the colony remains in the main space of the bioreactor, while the most active part of the colony, at the moment of collection, is pumped into the display section using the magnetic separation method).
• Control of the magnetic field allows us to organize the input and playback of data, creating a bio-display.
• The dead generations of bacteria sink to the bottom naturally, allowing us to isolate dead carriers of biomagnetite and create a layer of them, making it possible to record and store information on the bearer.
• Information is recorded, read, and reproduced using a magnetic field.

The result is artificial “geological clumps of information” created jointly by human-bacterial efforts using a hybrid of artificial and natural technologies.

“The Archean Memory Farm artwork by Where Dogs Run not only displays an awareness of the data pollution caused by humans, but also with profound sensibility showcases the time required for the growth of live memory with the help of other biological organisms – bacteria.”

The idea of Archean Memory Farm is based on the properties of ancient magnetotactic bacteria (MTB). They use magnetosomes to move along the lines of the Earth’s magnetic field, which allows them to recognize up and down and to sink into zones with a minimum of oxygen. The metabolism of magneto-tactic bacteria makes it possible to enter, store and read information.  The structure of the Archean Memory Farm: bacteria live and multiply in the bio-reactor; control of the magnetic field lets us organize the input and playback of data, so we get a bio-display; the dead generations of bacteria sink to the bottom naturally so we can create a layer of them, making it possible to record and store information on the carrier; information is recorded, read, and reproduced using a magnetic field. The structure that will emerge can be understood as a basic form of a primitive biogeo-computer. This computer would be considered very slow by human standards, but this speed seems to be the most adequate for observing bio-calculations and may allow us to experience how information grows, as well as how it may have the properties of a living being, closely linked with life and death. The properties of MTB make it possible to create an artificial geological memory as an analogue memory; as a replacement for digital memory; or as a method of algorithmic memory cultivation of living beings.

+ Artist

The Where Dogs Run group consists of Natalia Grekhova, Alexey Korzukhin, and Olga Inozemtseva. In their projects, the artists explore alternative computing, artificial intelligence, chemical communication between bio-and-cyber agents, olfactory pollution, biometric and other types of control. The group actively cooperated with many international institutions such as: ZKM (Germany), Goethe-Institut (Germany, Russia), KIBLA Multimedia Center (Slovenia), KGLU (Slovenia), Laznia CCA (Poland), M HKA (Belgium) and others.

+ Video Statement

+ Credits

Scientific consultants: Veronika Kozyaeva, Tatyana Kurgina, Kristijan Tkalec
Programming: Dmitry Shishov
Technical support: Gleb Andreev
Produced by: Kersnikova Institute within the framework of S+T+ARTS In the City – STARTS (Science, Technology & the Arts) in collaboration with BioTehna Laboratory
Co-funded by: European Commission, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, City of Ljubljana – Department of Culture, CYLAND Foundation

This project has been developed in the context of the S+T+ARTS in the City project. S+T+ARTS in the City has received funding from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology under grant agreement No. LC-01984766.

S+T+ARTS in the City is funded by the European Union under grant agreement LC-01984766 under the STARTS – Science, Technology and Arts initiative of DG CNECT. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or DG CNECT. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.