Art focus: How to have a Relationship with your Microbiome

Human species tend to think of themselves as winners of the evolution lottery. We are increasingly shaping the living environment in a way that answers to our societal and even more so, economical needs, almost entirely ignoring the needs of other creatures with whom we are co-inhabiting the world. This hierarchical view in which we occupy the leading position is so prevalent that we are currently experiencing an environmental catastrophe. And yet we still continue to act anthropocentrically, trying to come up with new technological inventions to gloss over our mistakes (such as removing ourselves from the situation altogether and launching ourselves further into space). We find ourselves in these circumstances because we continue to think that we are special, chosen or different and we continue to mix the notions of economical growth with progress in general.

But what we also know is that humans are not so uniquely human after all. In fact, the only time that each individual is 100% human is in the mother’s womb. As soon as you pass through the birth canal you become a living environment for thousands and thousands of micro-organisms (thanks, mum).

From that point onwards - and I am sorry if you are germaphobic - our internal and external organs become a colourful landscape, swarming with bacteria, archaea, fungi, viruses and other microbes. In reality, the human microbiome has an estimated 100 trillion microbes! That’s like 12,987 human populations living on and inside each of our bodies (talk about overpopulation). Actually, we have more microbial cells than human cells that make up only 43% of the body's total cell count. Does that mean that we are more microbial than human?

Increasing research on the microbiome has led to the coining of new notions in which animals and plants are no longer thought to be autonomous entities but rather biomolecular networks, composed of the host and its associated microbes, which together form a hologenome.

This indicates that microbes are not simply inhabiting our bodies but, instead, are in a mutual symbiosis with human cells - we need them as much as they need us. In fact, our body is full of distinct microbe communities that help to maintain a healthy environment throughout our body. Some microbes prefer dark and warm places, like armpits and vaginas, some prefer the blissful waxiness of the ears and then there is the biggest of the microbiome communities, which resides in the gut, and orchestrates your entire digestion. Our other microbial half helps to protect, form and feed us and can affect anything from our mood to our physical shape (even quite literally, since your microbiome adds about 2 kg to your body mass).

The recent fascination about human microbiome has led some artists to explore the idea of ‘humanness’ in this context. Are we really so unique? Are we really in charge? How much do we really know ourselves?

Expanded Self II by Sonja Baümel, (c) The Artist, image link

Sonja Baümel asks where does environment begin and end? For her, the microbial layer on our skin is an in-between layer that serves as a fluid matter enabling exchange between humans and their surroundings. The expansion of the human body beyond the skin, into the borderless multiplicity of human and microbial entanglements, changes our perception about what human bodies are made of and challenges the exceptionalism often associated with them. Her works propose that understanding of this inherent coexistence may help us explore the implications for larger processes of cultural significance.

SKIN II by Rosie Broadhead, (c) The Artist, image link

Rosie Broadhead imagines a future in which humans can take action in order to improve our microbiome. Optimal skin conditions depend on the well-being of the probiotic microbes on our bodies. But anything we put on and next to our skin, such as cosmetic products and fabric finishes, has a direct impact on the microbiome, disrupting and irritating it. Her latest project SKIN II explores the benefits of encapsulating probiotic bacteria into the fibres of clothing that become activated after coming into contact with the moisture of the skin. The introduced bacteria can help reduce body odour, encouraging cell renewal and improving skin’s immune system. Makes you almost want to sweat, doesn’t it?

The MSA by Emma Dorothy Conley, (c) The Artist, image link

Are you concerned about your privacy? The Microbiome Security Agency (The MSA) by Emma Dorothy Conley investigates the future of microbiome privacy issues and prepares citizens for a scenario where our personal information is at risk through our biological datasets. Since the microbiome changes based on what you come in contact with, similar to phone metadata or digital trail, it has the potential to function as a type of record of everyone and everything you came in contact with. Empowering citizens to secure their own data, The MSA researches and prototypes future scenarios, systems, products and processes for choosing your own microbiological privacy setting.

Microbial Me by Mellissa Fisher, (c) Eden Project, image link

Mellissa Fisher has produced a series of living self-portraits by taking bacteria swab samples from the surface of her skin and allowing them to grow on the agar casts of her face. Whilst growing, the bacteria interact with other microbes found in the surrounding environment and when the microbiome dies, it becomes an artefact of the continuous lively dialogue between humans and everything around them. Would you be curious to actually see your microbiome?

Super-Organism The Living Microbiome by Anna Dumitriu and Alex May, (c) The Artist, image link

Or would you like to experience it growing? Super-Organism The Living Microbiome is an ongoing series of artworks investigating the human microbiome by Anna Dumitriu and Alex May. This interactive installation focuses on the bacteria from the hands. Participants can place their hands on an interactive screen which acts as a virtual petri dish and reveals the shape of their bodies made of colonies of (digital) bacteria.

MYKROH by Dia Munoz, (c) The Artist, image link

Dia Munoz explores the relationship between bacteria and future health by suggesting an innovative way to expose newborn babies that were born via Caesarian section to the initial cocktail of microbes that usually come from squeezing through the birth canal (remember?). Her project MYKROH explores how this transfer can be facilitated in a natural and intuitive manner and suggests a bacterial therapy immediately after birth, mimicking the process at a microscopic level that happens at delivery. It includes transferring the skin bacteria through a special swaddle as well as vaginal fluids, through a vaginal pump that helps the baby to build his immune system for the future. Would you like your baby to undergo a microbial therapy?

Would you like to know more or experience some of these fascinating artworks in reality? Unbore will be part of Beyond Human, a festival for humanoids and other beings, with an exhibition Microbiome: Inside Out in the Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. We will exhibit the works of Rosie Broadhead and Dia Munoz. The exhibition will take place in the context of a conference on the microbiome, featuring talks from artists and theorists such as Sonja Baümel and Agnieszka Wolodzko.