Susceptible

Tuberculosis genome research becomes a bodily encounter with infection, treatment, and global interdependence in this installation and video work.

Digital scene from Susceptible showing bronchi-like forms, floating tuberculosis bacilli, and coloured atmospheric layers.

Alex May developed Susceptible with Anna Dumitriu as a data-driven interactive artwork and video work based on tuberculosis research from the CRyPTIC consortium led by the University of Oxford. The work transforms genomic and imaging data from 10,290 tuberculosis samples into a moving environment shaped like the bronchi and alveoli of the lung, where bacterial swarms interact with coloured antibiotic clouds and with the bodies of visitors. Rather than presenting scientific data as something distant or abstract, the project turns it into a sensory encounter with infection, treatment, and uncertainty.

Scale is the crucial move here. Vast datasets, antimicrobial resistance, and public-health interdependence are compressed into an environment the body can navigate and influence. Computation does not simplify the science so much as give it atmosphere and consequence, allowing invisible systems to be felt as pressure, movement, and risk. That translation from abstract record to lived encounter sits squarely within May’s practice.

Additional notes

  • Susceptible was created in 2020 with Anna Dumitriu, with Alex May developing the real-time system in Fugio.
  • The project draws on CRyPTIC research into antimicrobial resistance and whole-genome sequencing for tuberculosis treatment.
  • Each simulated bacillus represents one of 10,290 tuberculosis samples collected across six continents.
  • The installation uses depth-sensing interaction so visitors can attract or repel bacterial swarms and guide susceptible samples towards four antibiotic clouds: rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, and pyrazinamide.
  • During the COVID-19 lockdown, the work was adapted into a standalone video version and other pandemic-compatible formats including window-based presentation.
  • Susceptible premiered online in July 2020 and has since been shown in exhibitions and screenings including Quantum Questions, BioArt Alchemy, Collateral Effects, BioArt Revolution, and Cairotronica.
  • The project was developed with support from DRIVA Arts DRIVA and in partnership with Irini Papadimitriou of FutureEverything.

Talks, exhibitions, and updates connected to this work.

  • Susceptible receives STARTS Prize nomination

    Susceptible was nominated for the STARTS Prize shortlist, recognising the work’s use of biomedical research, interaction, and digital art to address global health.

  • ArchaeaBot and Susceptible in Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    ArchaeaBot and Susceptible were exhibited in EFECT DE LA MICRO LA MACRO during QUANTUM 2020 in Cluj-Napoca, using the windows of the former Hotel Continental to keep the work publicly visible during pandemic restrictions.

  • Creating and Curating with Data

    Alex May and Anna Dumitriu joined a DRIVA Arts DRIVA webinar on how artists make sense of complex data, using Susceptible to discuss public understanding, collaboration, and data-driven art.

  • Neural Network Apophenia exhibition

    A video version of Susceptible premiered in Neural Network Apophenia, an online exhibition curated for Moscow's EVERART Weekend around artistic uses of artificial neural networks and machine perception.

Selected images

Digital scene from Susceptible with branching lung-like structures and a dispersed field of glowing tuberculosis bacilli.
Visual layer from the interactive simulation.
Digital scene from Susceptible showing tuberculosis bacilli moving through dark bronchi-like structures against an illuminated background.
Detail from the installation and video version.