A Lab for Apologies and Forgiveness v.6 Meghan Moe Beitiks
"Do I dare disturb the universe? Is not a meaningful question, let alone a starting point for ethical considerations. Disturbance is not the issue, and 'dare' is a perverse provocation. There is no such exterior position where the contemplation of this possibility makes any sense. We are of the universe— there is no inside, no outside. There is only intra-acting from within and as part of the world in its becoming." --- Karen Barad, "Meeting the Universe Halfway," Duke University Press, 2007, p. 396
"Dear Moe . . . Attached is a graph showing how the microbial treatments have improve plant growth you can see that LuMoe is kicking ass. The real interesting thing is we don’t know why. When we asked can our different microbial treatments a) solubilize phosphate b) produce plant growth hormones c) produce siderophores (compounds that alter iron availability for the plant) LuMoe turned up negative results for all! These are standard tests to judge the ability of a microbe to promote plant growth. Yet, clearly LuMoe is the best at promoting plant growth?�
6/5/14 ELEMENTS OF THE LAB thus far:
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John Cusack Breathing from 'Fat Man and Little Boy' Chalk drawings of the 'Demon Core' from the same movie my sketch of geobacter sulfurreducens signage in Orator STD muddwatts tape measures chalk Sarah's tape patterns Case studies #1-4 (videos) Prussian Blue Core black scrubs tops Elizabeth Shue breathing from the movie 'the Saint' the apparatus/copper reducing tube seed bombs interview with Derek Lovely pedestals
FROM THE SCRIPT: "Geobacter sulfurreducens is shaped like a sausage, rod, comma, or tube depending on who you're talking to. It has little pilli, or tails, that aid in the transfer of electricity. It about 3 microns in length, and ½ micron wide. Geobacter Sulfurreducens breathes radioactive uranium, produces electricity, and has been used on former nuclear testing grounds to prevent underground radioactive plumes from contaminating water tables. "
In a work called "A Lab for Apologies and Forgiveness," I explored the respirations of a uranium-reducing bacteria through research. I examined nuclear legacy and its fictionalization in film, re-performing a nuclear accident and building an anaerobic gassing station for the cultivation of the bacteria.
The piece was realized in several "versions"—installations, performances, video, and combinations thereof-each its own stand-alone exploration of the human acts of apologies and forgiveness in the context of the bacteria's respirations.
In version 5 of the work, I studied Geobacter sulfurreducens with Environmental Microbiologists at LaTrobe University in Melbourne, Australia and learned how to build a gassing station, an apparatus for its cultivation. Upon return to Perth and the SymbioticA lab at the University of Western Australia, I built my own gassing station, in the likeness of the air conditioning unit in the lab. I wanted to create a device that spoke to the cultivation of air across species.
FROM THE SCRIPT:
LUCIE SEMENEC: "Geobacter and I have a mutually beneficial relationship. I provide it with the right environmental conditions to live in and Geobacter reveals its secrets of successful electron transfer to me. My end goal is to find optimal growth conditions and bacterial partners for Geobacter which allow the most efficient electron transfer to the electrode so that the maximum electrical current production can be attained." Minus 1.5 minutes: (speaking into microphone) MOE: Geobacter sulfurreducens does not and cannot eliminate nuclear waste. It can only hold it in place, prevent it from doing further damage. And that is in part dependent on environmental conditions. The electricity it produces is in minute amounts. Working alone, it produces less electricity than working in a community of other species."
UWA had soil samples from ground zero at Montebello islands, the site of the first British nuclear test blast. I put this soil in half of the test tubes I gassed, more as a symbolic gesture than anything. I sent one of the tubes back to LaTrobe University, where Lucie and Jen noticed something growing— an unknown bacteria. Lucie named it LuMoe, after the both of us . . .
FROM THE SCRIPT:
"Minus 1.5 minutes: These test tubes contain NBAF, a nutrient media for growing anerobic bacteria. This media contains minerals such as Calcium Chloride and Magnesium Sulfate, along with soil from Montebello Islands. [the site of the first British nuclear tests.] The soil is no longer considered to be radioactive to a level that is harmful. The gassing station and the nutrient media support the growth of Geobacter Sulfurreducens." Minus 3 minutes: MOE: I've been attempting to bubble the oxygen out of these test tubes. 6 minutes open with canulas in liquid, 6 minutes with stopper on and canulas in liquid, 3 minutes with stopper on and canulas in headspace above liquid. These gassing times were calculated for a system where the gas was set at 30 psi. With my tiny container of gas, the most I can get is just above 10, another issue I didn't account for."
7/31/14 Not entirely certain the gassing I'm giving will be adequate
Hi Moe, Thanks for your quick reply :-) I should clarify what I meant in my last email since I wasn't explaining it well. We received two tubes from you, one with no sand and one with sand (the one I refer to as inoculated since it had bacterial growth). So the sand had some bacteria in there that was able to grow in the NBAF you placed it in. Because it already had bacteria in there was no need to inoculate it with anything ;-) Do you remember when you placed the sand into the tube? It was probably sometime just before August 16 when you emailed us about them. Its not that important in case you forgot, I will just put an approximate date in my notes. Cheers, Lucie
"when we used community fingerprinting to see if there is something different about LuMoe communities…we see nothing special?
Community fingerprinting can only look at the most abundant community members and it doesn’t ID them for us…
so perhaps Lumoe has something special hidden in the rare members of the community that is able to improve plant growth even if it is only present in low abundances…?
Have also included our best reflects difference between uninoculated controls. Gene honours student, is the one all that hard work—"
pic that Lumoe and Drendel, our that has done