Presentation:

Aquatic harvesting

Biotalk 26 - with Charlotte van Alem, Ben van den Broek and Sabina Ahn

13 Apr 2017
Will algae farms be the farms of the future? Can washed-up jellyfish be repurposed to make a durable material? Are algae the solution for clean energy harvesting? Through performance and talks, we will explore aquatic life in the framework of harvesting. Sound and visual artist Sabina Ahn, designer Charlotte van Alem and researcher Dr. Ben van den Broek will contemplate these questions and more.

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Sonomatter column - Sabina Ahn

With: Sabina Ahn

Speakers

Charlotte van Alem - Medusae Project  

Inspired by the growing number of dead jellyfish in the Baltic Sea, van Alem's project set out to explore the possibility of creating an environmentally friendly material from jellyfish. In order to learn more about preserving organic material she visited the department of bioscience at Technical University Delft. She ran a series of experiments at the university to test the suitability of jellyfish as material.  This allowed her to create a prototype shoe from the material she created in collaboration with shoe designer Liesel Swart. By making this shoe van Alem was able to learn a lot more about how to increase the resilience of jellyfish collagen. As of 2017, they are working on a second prototype.

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Charlotte van Alem talk at Mediamatic - Anisa Xhomaqi

Sabina Ahn - Sonomatter

Sonomatter is a sound installation and performance in which the bioelectrical signal of microorganisms, including algae, is transformed to sound. This work starts with building a small ecosystem with mud and water in a column. As time proceeds, microbes will create electricity and eventually die when they lack nutrients. This process illustrates the circular relationship between life and death. The project is thus not only a metaphorical exploration of the interaction between organic matter and natural phenomena, but it also explores the domain of energy harvesting and generating clean energy.

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Sabina Ahn performing at Mediamatic - Anisa Xhomaqi


     

Dr Ben van den Broek

Dr. van den Broek is researcher at Wageningen Food and Biobased Research. In his talk, van den Broek will discuss why algae are a compelling source for a biobased economy. Microalgae grow in water and contain a lot of interesting components for the production of biobased materials. He will explain how biorefinery can be used to extract these components.

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Dr Ben van den Broek talk at Mediamatic - Anisa Xhomaqi

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Audience smelling samples - Anisa Xhomaqi

 

Information
Aquatic explorations - Biotalk
Thursday 13 April
20:00-22:30
Tickets: 7,50 pre-sale / 10,- door (excl. administration fee)
Students: 5,- pre-sale & door 

Mediamatic Biotoop, Dijksgracht 6, Amsterdam