MAGNETIC BACTERIA
MAGNETIC BACTERIA RESEARCH IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Between Dec. 2017 and Jan. 2018, I was artist-in-residence at SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, Perth. During the first half of my residency,
I spent time researching and collecting magnetic bacteria. I was fascinated with magnetic bacteria mainly because they are essentially living magnets, with chains of magnetic minerals and crystals within their bodies. Though my field work in hunting for bacteria ended in failure, I thought the process worth documenting.
Testing micro-organisms found with strong magnet at the right hand side of the video. Based on the microbial behavior, I'm not sure that the organisms exhibited a strong attraction to the magnet. Whereas bacteria from the northern hemisphere is attracted to the south pole of magnets, magnetic bacteria from Australia would be the opposite. I wasn't able in the end to try to isolate and culture the bacteria because the medium arrived too late.
Bacteria taken from Matilda Bay, Swan River during my walk. Without a car, it was difficult for me to reach further areas for collection.