Symbiosis is a spectrum. A process that is not limited by a set of discrete states and transforms easily without gaps in the continuum. Fluctuating symbiosis constantly passes between parasitism, commensalism and mutualism, which are established again and again in relation to the effects of complexity in the interplay of actors. On the spectrum of possible symbiotic relationships, the struggle for survival thus emerges as only one of the possible life strategies and not as the only option as capitalism intertwined with individualism is trying to establish in our everyday practices. Communities of soil bacteria from the genus Rhizobium, as model organisms of the above thesis, slide on the spectrum of coexistence from parasitism to commensalism to mutualism in the interweaving of glass sculptures. Changes on the spectrum of relationships leave traces on the entangled thermosensitive threads in the form of color changes.
Spectrum, 2022
Symbiosis Studies Series
Saša Spačal
Scientific and technical support: Mirjan Švagelj
Glassblower: Zvonko Drobnič
Production: Cukrarna, Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana
Exhibition
Returning the Gaze Exhibition, curators Alenka Gregorič, Alenka Trebušak, Mara Anjoli Vujić, Mateja Podlesnik and Alenka Trebušak, Cukrarna Gallery, Ljubljana, Slovenia [March – August 2023]