Economies and [Microbial] Ecosystems

Alex May joined Anna Dumitriu for Economies and [Microbial] Ecosystems, the sixth event in the Sensibilizzazione con SAGacia25 series, held on Friday 3 October 2025 at Sapienza University of Rome.

Presented in the Department of Chemistry at Sapienza and available both in person and online, the bilingual symposium focused on the ways artistic practice can make visible the ethical and material stakes of working with microbial life. The event connected BioArt, scientific research, and questions of extraction, value, and environmental responsibility.

Addressing an audience of researchers, students, and art enthusiasts, May presented a group of works that translate biological information into image, sound, and light. He discussed Sequence Music, where DNA data gathered through a portable minION sequencer is used to generate music in real time, and Fermenting Futures, his collaboration with Anna Dumitriu exploring yeast biotechnology, including a work that sonifies the DNA of a genetically modified yeast.

May also spoke about Flow State, his public commission for the Francis Crick Institute, including the “DNA clock” on the reverse of the sculpture: a light-based work driven by the genomic sequence of a model yeast organism. Together, these examples showed how his practice uses computational systems and technologically mediated form not to simplify science, but to make difficult processes more tangible and open to reflection.

Within the wider SAGacia25 discussion, this placed May’s work in a productive conversation about microbial economies, extraction, and environmental responsibility. Rather than treating biology as raw material, the talk showed how art can create space to think about the unseen systems, living agents, and infrastructures that shape scientific knowledge.

Further details are available via the Chimica 404 event page.