Symbiotic Manufacture -- A living manufacturing landscape

Symbiotic Manufacture — A Living Manufacturing Landscape is a site-specific walk-through installation by LarbitsSisters – the artist duo Bénédicte Jacobs and Laure-Anne Jacobs. The installation takes its starting point from Photosynthesising Flowerpots: porous, unfired flowerpots made from biomaterials and mineral mixtures, developed as substrates for cyanobacteria and other micro-ecological processes. The flowerpots form a living manufacturing landscape in which light, moisture, air circulation, time and care all help to determine the structure of the work. Photosynthesis, desiccation, moisture absorption and biomineralisation become visible as slow, ever-changing processes. The project explores how design can not only shape objects, but also create conditions for life, growth, recovery and interaction. With a low-tech and low-energy approach to innovation, Symbiotic Manufacture positions itself at the crossroads of art, design, technology and ecology. The project was developed by LarbitsSisters in collaboration with Omlab (NL), Unfold Design Studio (BE) and Prof. Hideo Iwasaki / Waseda University (JP).