Earthlink

»Earthlink« is an ecological system of feedback loops. As humans breathe in and out, metabolizing the space around them, the biotechnological installation breathes as well. Saša Spačal’s planetary metabolism features two complementary non-human apparatuses: The inspiration station gives off microbacteria and air for viewers to breathe in; the expiration station receives the previously inhaled microorganic material along with exhaled air. The soil bacteria used (»Mycobacterium vaccae«) are said to have happiness-enhancing effects. An extract of the graveyard cypress (»Cupressus sempervirens«) purifies the air again before it is brought to the central unit: the symbiome container. In it, red clover (»Trifolium pratense«) interacting with »Rhizobium« bacteria acts as the control center of the process. On its way there, the air passes through a series of biome containers on the floor; each biome is a habitat with different organisms and inanimate matter.

The system places the respiratory processes of nature and humans in an analogous relationship – and in doing so, follows the natural philosophy of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz: “In nature everything is full. [. . .] Because the world is full, everything in it is linked to everything else, and each body acts [. . .] on each other body [. . .], and is affected by it in return. This has the result that every monad is a living mirror which represents the universe [. . .], and is as orderly as the universe itself.” (ca. 1700)

Production: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, Projekt Atol Institute; Consultation (microbiology): Mirjan Švagelj; Glasswork: Pero Kolobarić, Zvonko Drobnič; Construction: Anil Podgornik, Scenart, Ambrož Modrijan.