Microverse
Blurring the Boundaries between Science and Art in a Living Theatrum naturae et artis
Microverse, Pea, reflected light, 2023. Copyright: Kathrin Linkersdorff
Circularity of growth and decay as well as sustainability of the flow of living matter is a hallmark of intact ecosystems. This principle is stunningly visualized in ultrahigh resolution, large format photographs - the MICROVERSE series - created by freelance artist Kathrin Linkersdorff in collaboration with microbiologist Regine Hengge.
In the project, the soil bacterium Streptomyces coelicolor is allowed to encounter, sense, and grow on decolored flowers and other decaying plant materials of exquisite microstructural beauty. In a laboratory re-enactment of what normally happens in dark soil, large-scale Petri dishes become the stages where the growing bacterial performers interweave with filigree petals and leaves, flee or succumb to deadly plant toxins, burst into the production of blue, red, or orange-brown pigments with antibiotic activity to deter potential competitors, produce their dusty white survival spores, and occasionally are in turn killed and digested by hairy moulds. Ultimately, these organic cycles of growth and decay create growing images of translucent dead plants blossoming again under the spell of microbial pigments, thereby blending science and art in a living Theatrum naturae et artis.
The Microverse photographs have been shown at Deichtorhallen/Phoxxi Hamburg (2023/2024), the Photofestival Lenzburg (Stapferhaus,CH-Lenzburg, 2024), and Haus am Kleistpark (Berlin, 2025) and are currently presented at Stadthaus Ulm (22 June - 21 September 2025).
