TABOO - TRANSGRESSION - TRANSCENDENCE

The installation Roscoffensis I/O, developed by Miha Godec since 2023 with the support of the Roscosmoe Lab, takes an in-depth look at the complex relationship and symbiosis between plants and animals, focusing in particular on the marine flatworm Symsagittifera roscoffensis; an animal-algae symbiosis that enables the worm to live fully off the photosynthetic activity of its microalgae symbionts, which it ingests but does not digest and keeps in its epidermis. Inspiration of the prospective scenario of a future “Homo Photosyntheticus” developed by evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis, the Symsagittifera roscoffensis has become a model organism for research into the design of bioregenerative life support systems for space exploration.

As an interactive installation Roscoffensis I/O explores the intricate symbiosis established between a Roscoffensis colony and an anthropomorphized artificial intelligence system. It underscores the complexity of natural interdependencies and invites viewers to reconsider their relationship with the environment, questioning it as a dynamic and living system where technology and biology coalesce.

The Roscosmoe Lab is an art & science platform launched by Ewen Chardronnet in 2015 in partnership with Dr. Xavier Bailly from the Roscoff Marine Station (France). Roscosmoe hosts or supports artists conducting researches in the field of marine biology, photosymbiosis, developmental biology, algal ecology, design, anthropology of science and intermedia art. A major thread of the initiative is the design of research protocols involving the photosymbiotic worm Symsagittifera roscoffensis as a potential biological model to apply in space research. With Roscoffensis I/O as an observation habitat for its long-term research objectives the Roscosmoe Lab (Dr. Xavier Bailly, Ewen Chardronnet, Miha Godec, Maya Minder, Olivier Morvan, Špela Petrič and Miha Turšič) invite to examine animal-plant-machine interrelationships in anthropotechnical constructs, and to reflect on the future of terrestrial life forms here and in outer space.