THRIVE: A Biodesign Challenge Retrospective

What does it mean to be human today? The projects in this exhibition help us start to explore this question. They interrogate our relationship with our surroundings and remind us of our responsibility to each other, other species, and the planet.

Seven years ago, Biodesign Challenge began fostering collaborations at the nexus of art, design, biotechnology, and ethics. These evolved into and informed the projects on view today.

At its core, the BDC community recognizes biology’s central role in society. When our biological interconnectedness became apparent to everyone in 2020, BDC already assumed the living ties that bind us to each other.

The pieces in THRIVE, some of which appear in BDC’s forthcoming book, encourage us to shift our worldviews. They prompt us to rethink our place in the natural world and to look forward to what may come. For in this space, with this convergence of disciplines, a hopeful community thrives.

OUR BOOK GROW THE FUTURE: VISIONS OF BIODESIGN We’ve been working for over a year on this compilation of the first five years of BDC. The book is a deep dive into the perspectives shaping biodesign. Thank you to all of our supporters who have already purchased a book and helped to successfully fund our Kickstarter campaign.

Biota (2011) Suzanne Anker Biota is a porcelain sculptural installation employing the morphology of the sea sponge as a matrix. Arranged on low-standing Plexiglas platforms, the sculptures appear as if they were dead coral. In the sea, such exoskeleton frameworks signal the degradation of coral reefs throughout the world and their support for diverse species’ habitats. These sculptures act as fossils commemorating the time reefs were living entities. The details of the porcelain sculptures speak to the intricate cooperation of cells working together. Sea sponges are ancient forms of life, arising hundreds of millions of years ago as one of the first multi-cellular animals.

While ceramics is an ancient technology, the attached figurines are rapid prototyped sculptures that are coated in silver leaf. The figurines represent humankind’s foray into figurative sculpture such as the Venus of Willendorf.

Untitled (small inconveniences) (2019) Ani Liu This garment is part of a series that allows persons of any gender to experience the symptoms of pregnancy, to cultivate both empathy and potential new ways of embodied understanding. Untitled (small inconveniences) was designed to simulate incontinence.

As an investigation of the ways consumer culture problematizes pregnancy, this garment is part of a set of ritual devices and consumable products related to pregnancy. Centered around experiences typically considered “inconvenient”, these speculative products investigate our cultural relationship to pregnancy as mediated by artefacts, with a focus on cosmetic aids such as anti-stretch mark creams, anti-darkening serums, belly hiding corsets, belly masks, mood regulators, etc.

Where Do Gardens Come From?

(2022) Orkan Telhan + elli This video essay is an outcome of an ongoing research project centered on an investigation in Istanbul’s historical gardens and how they endure social, political, and ecological challenges over 1500 years. The research focuses on the less-visible aspects of these gardens, discussing how gentrification, immigration, and the climate crisis shape their meaning and use in the public imaginary.

Elaine Young IF EARTH IS 24 HOURS OLD HUMANS APPEARED AT 23:58:48 from the ANTHROPO MA-1 Bomber Jacket Series (2017) Graphic made from the 116 images from the 1977 NASA time capsule, the Golden Record, that did not include images of: war, poverty, religion, disease, ideology or crime. What images and sounds would represent us today?

CACTUS | Flea from the ‘HOST for your living things’ series (2008) Cactus is a graphic made from macro details of a flea’s armor. The invention of the microscope over 400 years ago and the electron microscope in 1931 forever changed our visible landscape. HOST graphics are inspired by beauty that is invisible to the naked-eye.

Amula DNA Jewelry Styles: OVAO, AEON-O, AEON-SQ (Year: Various) Amula is a collection of modern lockets personalized with your choice of DNA extracted and purified from any person, pet or plant. How will our values about DNA influence the future of genetic engineering?

GIY Bio Buddies (2019) Anne Hu, Trisha Sathish, Emily Takara GIY Bio Buddies is a kit for children that allows them to make and design toys with biomaterials.

The goal is to both move the toy industry away from non-biodegradable plastics and remove the “ick” factor from interacting with biological materials through explorations with kombucha leather and mycelium.

Kerasynth (2018) Diana Eusebio, Erin Kirchner, Grace Kwon, Rachel Rusk, Sydney Sieh-Takata A speculative project that reimagines our relationship with our garments, Kerasynth is a synthetically grown biological material that can replace keratin-based animal fibers. It uses tissue engineering technology to grow wool Hair Follicle Germ (HFG) cells on microfluidic devices, which are designed to provide the cells with nutrients and to remove waste.

Myotomato (2016) Leman Akpinar, Viktorea Benois, Sebastian Cocioba, Andrew Cziraki, Mike Falk, Kelsey Haight, David Hanlon, Marguerite Li, Bo Liu, Steph Mantis, Beatriz Meseguer, Kirin Pino, Shannon Pollak, Gina Proenza, Tarah Rhoda, Henry Sanchez, Victor Taboada, Raul Valverde, Darya Warner, John Wells In a future world where humans face extreme meat shortages, Myotomato is a company that bioengineers edible plants to produce myoglobin, a protein normally found in meat.

The work brings new meaning to the tomato variety “beefsteak tomato”.

Operation Porifera (2021) Andrea Binz, Ana Mangino, Zoe Lee Set in the year 2080, Operation Porifera imagines a society where a water-filtering freshwater sponge plays a pivotal role in responding to the Los Angeles Arsenic Crisis of 2030.

Phytobionic

(2019)

Mamoun Nukumanu Friedrich-Grosvenor, Rita Rui Ting Wang Phytobionic imagines the evolution of hybrid sensory organs, which are made through a synthesis of plant, bacterial, human, algal, and fungal tissues. These organs might alter the human experience and illuminate alternative livable worlds.

ProHuman (2021) Anique Parker, Jaiden Morris, Keyanna Nurse, Nabria Jackson ProHuman serves as a critical investigation into the nature of prejudice, discrimination, and inequality. It is presented as a fictional psychoactive prebiotic-probiotic mix designed to increase social interaction, reduce social fear, and form bonds between children of different backgrounds.

River Defenders (2021) Dominic Zelli, Jonathan Alexander, Ashlyn Sterling, Erin Mawhorter River Defenders is a satirical advertising campaign set in 2029 that critiques the United States’ militaristic approach to invasive species eradication. It reframes human relationships with other species and contextualizes their coexistence within the larger ecosystem.

Stabilimentum

(2016)

Mónica Butler, Jiwon Woo Latin for support, Stabilimentum is a couture mask that filters air using live spiders and the electrostatic properties of their silk. Inspired by the symbiotic relationship between humans and the microbiome, the fashion accessory creates a symbiosis between human and arachnid.

Sub•ver•sive (2021) Mika Campbell, Grace Burch, Abigail Gordon, Savannah Adams Sub·ver·sive attempts to change the social narrative around wearing hoodies as a Black person in America. This biodesigned reimagining of the garment imbues modular biosensors and protective spider silk into the fabric to provide comfort and protection to the wearer.

Tômtex (2020) Uyen Tran Tômtex is a sustainable leather alternative made from the chitin in seafood waste and coffee grounds. It prioritizes circular design by considering both humans and the planet during material sourcing and the product’s end of life.

Zebra Glass (2020) Marziehsadat (Mahsa) Banadaki, Wei Huang, Emily Marquette Zebra Glass uses zebra and quagga mussels, both considered invasive to the Great Lakes ecosystem, as a calcium carbonate source for creating artisanal soda lime glass. In doing so, a species is transformed from an “othered” ecological threat to a point of regional pride.

ABOUT BIODESIGN CHALLENGE Biodesign Challenge is an international education program and competition that pairs high school and college students with artists, designers, and scientists to envision, create, and critique the future of biotechnology.

Each June, students showcase their projects at the BDC Summit before a global audience, including 60 interdisciplinary judges who award the coveted Glass Microbe.

BDC alumni have gone on to become biodesign instructors themselves, turn their projects into startups, and exhibit in public forums. Over the last 6 years, alumni have raised over $5 million in investment for their startup companies while others have exhibited at the London Design Festival, Gregg Museum, the United Nations, World Economic Forum, RISD, MIT, and elsewhere.

To learn more about joining our community, visit biodesignchallenge.org or follow us on Instagram @ biodesigned.