What is a microbiome?

The term microbiome is increasingly used to describe the communities of microorganisms living in us, on us and in the environment around us. Microbes are ubiquitous and reside just about everywhere — in animals, plants, soil, oceans and the atmosphere. Each person carries a collective weight of a few pounds of microbes, and the number of microbes in our bodies outnumbers the number of our own cells. Cells carry human DNA and the microbes in the human microbiome carry their own DNA. The diversity of populations found in microbiomes is vast.

We are symbionts.

The collections of microbial communities we carry vary greatly across our bodies, the primary areas being: mouth and throat, nose, genitals, skin and gut. Some companies, like uBiome, ask customers to swab, scoop, or otherwise collect and ship samples of bodily fluids and excrement for analysis and, in return, share access to a dashboard of information about what was found. The composition of a person’s microbiome also changes over time and can be affected by the environment, behavioral choices, and even the company we keep (including pets!) However, one individual’s microbiome is more similar to itself over time than it is to another individual’s microbiome. In other words, they are unique to us — almost like a fingerprint.

We rarely think about microbes at all— Let alone think about them as mutualists that are always there, with us.

CollaboratiNG with the microbiome

The “Collaborating with the Microbiome” series is a set of scenarios formed predominantly through visual imagery and contextual supplemental materials, i.e.: soundscapes, designed products, instruments, and tools. I teamed up with Kevin Scott to create the photographic imagery and conceptualize collaboratively on creative and artistic choices for the work. I invited Kevin Scott for this project because of the superb way he sees light and translates it in photographic images and the high degree of perfectionism, obsessiveness and beauty I see in his work. Fortunately, he was interested in this project and agreed to collaborate.

The overarching goals of the project are to create discussion about the microbiomes around us and raise questions about the new research and technologies that may come from recent initiatives to study them. We hope to: reflect on the importance of microbes to ourselves and the planet, consider the impact of globalization on microbes, bring to the surface a range of human characteristics such as self-preservation, self-sabotage, a desire for shortcuts and quick fixes, etc., and in doing so, question the common paradigms and technologies humans use to perceive ourselves in relation to other living things.

The Hacker

In the first in the series, “The Hacker”, we see an environmental portrait of an introspective man in his urban apartment holding an unknown sensor technology on his stomach. In the scene we see many details that give further information about this individual and his situation. The setting is modern. There is a veneer of future perfect within the work, but on closer inspection we see metaphorical cracks in the polish. Remnants from the night before, drips of sauce in the fridge, an alert that a storm is coming… in his gut. The better future promised by new technologies are in dialog with his everyday life. On the headphones we hear the sounds of a rumbling stomach and a computer-generated voice managing the monitoring and communication of changes in the microbiome.

Imagine we can access aN internet of living things (IOLT). That’s right, Our microbes are talking to each other, and we are listening.

A predictive algorithm is sharing information on what we should eat and how we should intervene to achieve optimal wellness. It is reporting this to us as though we are monitoring the day’s weather and choosing what clothing to wear. A technology like this could only bring more awareness to our habits, inform our decisions, and give us a way to communicate with our microbiome. Yet in this moment we find our main character in a position of wanting that future, but not quite managing to keep it all together.

This image was inspired by a long-term research I am actively a part of that was funded by NAKFI in 2015.

More info on the NAKFI Funded Project: PIs: Paul Weiss, University of California, Los Angeles; Ruth West, University of North Texas; Andrea Polli, University of New Mexico; Beth Cardier, Sirius-Beta Inc.; Niccolo Cassas, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College of London; Allison Kudla, Institute for Systems Biology
Title: Towards the ‘InnerNet:’ An integrated sensor analysis of biome/microbiome systems, employing novel interactivity through acoustics and design for personalized health monitoring –  Awarded $100,000
Brief Description: The InnerNet project considers the whole biophysical system of the body with the goal of understanding how bodily systems ‘talk’ to one another by tapping into communications between the body and the microbiome. This team will explore the development of wearable external and internal sensor arrays for this purpose.

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The work is presented in a custom-designed LED lightbox. Dimensions: 42.5″ x 62.5″ x 5.25″. The audio piece is presented on wireless headphones.

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Pictured above: A close-up view of what is on the monitor— legible when the piece is presented at full-scale.