DIATOMS: Microscopic Tide is an interactive installation that invites audiences to engage with ocean biodiversity through the act of creation.
Using a custom-built digital system, participants design their own diatoms, microscopic marine organisms essential to ocean ecosystems, by manipulating a small set of geometric parameters inspired by real biological morphology.
From these simple rules, a rich diversity of forms emerges, mirroring the processes through which scientists observe, classify, and continually discover new species.
Using a custom-built digital system, participants design their own diatoms, microscopic marine organisms essential to ocean ecosystems, by manipulating a small set of geometric parameters inspired by real biological morphology.
From these simple rules, a rich diversity of forms emerges, mirroring the processes through which scientists observe, classify, and continually discover new species.
The experience combines open interaction with optional live demonstrations, allowing the work to function both as an immersive artwork and as an accessible educational platform.
Visitors interact with the installation using tablets placed around the space that allow them to create and capture and archive their unique diatoms.
The system stores a 2D image replicating an SEM microscope and 3D rendered images, which are added to a growing digital archive, emphasizing accumulation, variation, and the collective nature of knowledge-building in science.
The system stores a 2D image replicating an SEM microscope and 3D rendered images, which are added to a growing digital archive, emphasizing accumulation, variation, and the collective nature of knowledge-building in science.
The installation is designed as a flexible and scalable system that can adapt to different spatial, technical, and programmatic contexts. It can be presented as a stand-alone interactive artwork, a mediated public demonstration, or a hybrid format aligned with ocean-focused programming, making it versatile both technically and conceptually.
