looking up into a bacterial sky
Installations

Something Between Science and Magic

Something Between Science and Magic is an interactive installation that physicalizes the magic of science and blurs the boundaries between microscopic and macroscopic worlds.

Student

Christina Cappelli

Advisor

Simone Salvo

Abstract

This interactive installation aims to spark curiosity by inviting viewers to explore a new perspective on the natural world by envisioning a sky of bacterial stars. Inspired by the symbiotic relationship between the bobtail squid and Vibrio Fischeri bacteria, the project draws speculative parallels by shrinking the human scale, comparing bacterial movement to human nose positions and bacterial autoinducers to shooting stars. Through this shift in perspective, the installation reveals the intricacies and complexities of the natural world, inviting viewers to reflect on their place within the universe. The paradoxical effect of zooming in and getting smaller offers a new sense of scale, making the world suddenly appear much larger and more vast, even cosmic in scope. By transforming a seemingly mundane object into something magical, the installation exposes a new world teeming with unexpected life.

looking up into a bacterial sky

Research

Multi-Species Evolution | Ecology | Microbiomes | The Bobtail Squid | Vibrio Fischeri | Bioluminescence | Quorum Sensing | Bacteriology | Museum Design | Speculative Design | Myths + Legends | Optical + Cognitive Illusions

Technical Details

P5.JS (simulated visuals) | Visual Studio Code | ML5 Pose Net  (position tracking) | External Webcam | Christie + Optima projectors | Grammarly (presentations) | Chat GPT (helped with coding logic and decluttering some of my more confusing project sentences)