Every year the Australian Network for Art and Technology (ANAT) offer two residencies as part of its prestigious Synapse program.
Synapse brings artists and scientists together in research partnerships that generate new knowledge, ideas and processes beneficial to both fields. A distinguishing feature of the residencies is their creative research focus, with applicants dissuaded from anticipating specific outcomes at the outset.
One of this year’s recipients is Natalie Alima, who will be hosted by SensiLab. Her collaborative work with SensiLab director Jon McCormack will explore ways to control and orchestrate biological growth and development with the aim of reimagining how designers, artists and architects work with nature.
Robotic intervention can be used to alter and direct biological growth in ways that have never before been possible, including the construction of bio-scaffolds, exploitation of tropisms, and cellular 3D printing. Through a creative process, a number of prototypes will be produced in order to explore this relationship between robotic fabrication and living organisms.
Ultimately, through this symbiotic relationship of organism and machine, this collaboration will explore ways in which we may create living and breathing inhabitable designs.
