Shrine to Fallen Microbes
Caitlin & Misha will be talking about their current project Shrine to Fallen Microbes. They say “The need for a diverse microbiome is for us a potent analogy for the need for cultural diversity among people.” Shrine to Fallen Microbes is an interactive website stored on Arweave, the “permaweb.” Artist duo Caitlin & Misha find inspiration in naturally occurring systems such as rhizomatic networks of mycelium, the microbiome ecology, and emergent pink noise for the experiences they construct in their collaborative art practice. Among other things, they create installations, games, data visualizations, and happenings. They explore ways of collecting and filtering data to tell stories and aim to create artworks that provide unique opportunities for shared experiences such as sweating, meditating, humming, jumping, and worrying together.
Caitlin Foley and Misha Rabinovich began working collaboratively in 2010 and are full-time faculty in the Department of Art & Design at UMass Lowell where Caitlin is a Visiting Faculty Lecturer and Misha is an Associate Professor of Interactive Media. They are recipients of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Immersive Scholar Award, NEFA Creative City Grant, and exhibited at such venues as the Science Gallery (London), EFA Project Space (NYC), the New Museum’s Ideas City Festival (NYC), Boston Cyberarts (Boston), Machine Project (LA), Torrance Art Museum in (LA). They have held residencies at places such as Flux Factory, ARoS Aarhus Kunstmuseum in Denmark, and Andrea Zittell’s Wagon Station Encampment which have helped shape their creative network and interests.