Saturday, September 14, 2013

meet the Algaculture Symbiosis Suit - or algae helmet!

Last year, artists Michael Burton and Michiko Nitta (known as Burton Nitta) debuted the Algaculture Symbiosis Suit outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. There, an opera singer wore the suit and sang to the crowd, generating enough new algae populations during her performance that audience members were treated to a post-show snack.  According to a video clip, the "composition of the song and the singer's vocal technique are redesigned to specifically produce algae and enrich its taste. To do this, the composer and singer use the new science of sonic enhancement of food where different pitches and frequencies make food taste either bitter or sweet."



But this is not just for opera singers.  You, too, could wear an algae helmet!

A series of tubes, placed in front of the mouth, capture carbon dioxide and feed it to a constantly-growing population of suit-embedded algae. But algae needs sunlight to grow, right? Easy, the wearer just needs to sit by a window or go outside. (source)


Burton Nitta call their creation Algaculture, and describes it as designing a "new symbiotic relationship between humans and algae" in which we become semi-photosynthetic! You can read more here or on their website where you can scroll down to see more pictures and an even creepier video.

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