Biotricity and Bacteria Battery No. 5

‘Bacteria Battery’ is a networked sound installation by Rasa Smite and Raitis Smits in collaboration with sound artist and composer Voldemars Johansons and video artist Martins Ratniks.Bacteria Battery explores the emerging green energy technology called micro-bial fuel cell (MFC), and sonifies the process of generating electricity from the bacteria living in soil and dirty water. The installation consists of several bacteria-fuel cells, which together form a mini bio-power plant. The bacteria-fuel process is interpreted in sound structures, providing an aesthetic perspective on the mutual relations between nature and technology, biologic systems and electronic networks. The installation is a part of “Biotricity” – an ongoing art-science research project by RIXC artists and biologists from Latvian University (since 2012).