• LAB van Abbema

• symbiosis | imaging life

• Printed media can create a harmful impact to the environment. Solutions like soy ink and natural pigments are a better alternative, but Jelte van Abbema takes this approach even further. His fascination for nature allows him to investigate the possibilities of bacteria in a visual culture. To stay within scientific guidelines, he completed a course at the department of microbiology at the University of Wageningen. The result is a radical concept within printed media in that the image is still materializing when it rolls off the press. By converting a bus stop poster box (manufactured by JCDecaux) with controlled conditions, van Abbema creates an environment for his print to thrive. With time, the bacteria transform and begin to shape their own aesthetics and dimensions by growing over their printed boundaries.

research | petri-dish | posterbox

table with book and research material

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as Above so Below | research book | 349 pages