Until recently, artists, designers and architects were used to working with inert, non-living materials. Nowadays, they have new, biological products which technology has made easily, if not infinitely reproducible. As long as the stages of production are respected, they now have new materials at their disposal. Among these, mycelium (the vegetative mechanism of fungi) still has great potential that is yet to be discovered.

In the digital age, the transformation of living material is slowly but surely finding its way into the realms of creation. The potential approaches of what is now called biodesign are manifold. Working with living organisms such as yeasts, bacteria or mycelium inevitably leads to a more ecological, responsible vision of our future societies.

Until now reserved to the fields of medicine or biology, exploring invisible lifeforms and hidden processes has recently attracted the interest of artists. It is now possible to 3D-print living tissues using stem cells and create simulacra of living objects. A new, shared territory between art, innovation and science, biotechnologies are now used as a medium for creation, or more accurately the co-creation of original artefacts.

Nature morte/Nature vivante is on show between 24.11.19 and 08.03.20 at CID - CENTRE FOR INNOVATION AND DESIGN at Grand-Hornu.