Bacterial Orchestra (2006) is a self-organizing evolutionary musical organism. The installation consists of several audio cells. Every cell listens to its surroundings and picks up sounds, trying to play together in a musical way.
If you happen to be in the same room as Bacterial Orchestra - interact with it. The complexity of the generated sound doesn’t come from the mechanism of every single cell, but from their interactions.
Every cell has a unique DNA. Only the ones that are musical fit enough survives. If the surroundings doesn’t meet up to its conditions - too noisy, too quiet or no distinct pulse - the cell dies and is reborn with a new set of DNA.
The result is a musical organism adapting to its environment, growing and evolving with neighbouring cells and spectators.
Bacterial Orchestra is an installation by myself and Martin Lübcke. So far we have exhibited the piece in Germany, Norway, Sweden and Brazil.
More information at www.bacterialorchestra.com.