Research outputs
Fundamentally, research is about the advancement and production of original new knowledge validated by our peers. In the Living Systems Lab, our ethos is eco-centric: we prototype new knowledge via curiosity-driven, applied and/or contract research to develop new insights that can benefit multi-species.
Below are a few examples.
You will find more info in our individual members UAL profiles. Please also see UAL Research Online.
Framing new knowledge via curation of exhibitions and conferences
Projects include:
Designing with the Living (2019-2021)
Conference series, Design Museum. Conferences co-curated with the UCL Bio-Id lab and the Design Museum in London to develop and articulate a critique of biodesign practices in relation to our planetary boundaries.
Menagerie of Microbes (2016)
Laboratory Gallery, Summerhall, Edinburgh - part of Bio and Beyond, the visual art exhibition at Summerhall for the Edinburgh International Science Festival 2016. An interdisciplinary exhibition celebrating the microbial world, bringing together the work of artists, designers and scientists who share a passion for microorganisms which exist in and around us. Menagerie of Microbes presented work by Heather Barnett, Anna Dumitriu, ecoLogicStudio, Patrick Hickey, Simon Park, Sarah Roberts, Urban Morphogenesis Lab and the ASCUS Lab.
This is Alive, New Design Frontiers (2013)
Exhibition curation, EDF Foundation, Paris. The curatorial approach proposed a new framework that articulates biodesign practices via an ecological lens.
Making new knowledge via practice-based research
See individual members' profiles for up to date lists of practice-based research; UAL Research Online.
Projects include:
Machine Wilderness, Dr Heather Barnett (2022)
Commissioned to join the Machine Wilderness artist research programme at ARTIS Zoo in Amsterdam, exploring new relationships between people, technologies and the natural world. During her residency Barnett explored the art of observation and interference, focusing on the uninvited creatures who share their habitat with the display animals. Machine Wilderness was commissioned by Zone2Source, FoAM and ARTIS.
The Realm, Dr Heather Barnett (2019)
Inspired by the coordinated motion of animal groups, ‘The Realm’ combines visual art and computational design with behavioural science to create aesthetic and immersive collective encounters. Through VR and generative technologies, participants interact with imaginary biological creatures, whose individual and collective actions are driven by rules drawn from real life data (such as shoaling fish and flocking birds). Computational models and player interactions interconnect to create a dynamic co-evolving system, affected by bodily gestures, sounds and social signals. Initiated and led by artist Heather Barnett (University of the Arts London), The Realm team comprised of technology company Tengio, artists Andy Lomas and Heloise Tunstall-Behrens, and arebyte gallery, with scientific input from the SHOAL group (Swansea University) and the Kampff Lab (University College London).
Botanical Fur, Professor Carole Collet (2019)
This research project consists of two series and focuses on the plasticity and morphogenetic control of fur-like botanical systems. Botanical Fur series one (aerial trichomes) comprises 4 miniature textiles (3 x 2 cm each) presented as a group and made of plant hairs from the Cactaceae family using traditional textile techniques including knotting, tufting and embroidery. The project asks: How can plant systems inform a new textile design practice? What can be learnt from the mechanics of hair production in the plant world? Is it possible to control the architecture of plant root-hairs to grow fur-like textiles in vitro? And can crafting textiles be used to critically engage with notions of scarcity in the natural world?
Mycelium Textiles, Professor Carole Collet (2015-2019)
This research project consists of a connected series of experimental textile design prototypes that explore the potential of bio-based mycelium techniques combined with textiles to develop new bio-integrated processes for sustainable textile fabrication and embellishment.
Crowd Control, Dr Heather Barnett (2017)
A situated research residency based at Arebyte Gallery in Hackney Wick, East London. Connecting visual, digital and performance art practices with contemporary scientific research, law and urban design, the project explored the mechanisms of collective behaviour through observation, simulation and experimentation. Intended to engage the local population and wider audiences through active participation, Hackney Wick became a laboratory and a playground for an interdisciplinary study into the collective interactions between individuals, groups and their environments. Also: ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/13235
Nodes and Networks, Dr Heather Barnett (2015)
A collective bio/urban experiment exploring biological systems as a model and metaphor for social intervention. Taking inspiration from slime mould navigation, bacterial communication and insect cooperation, groups of artists, designers, and scientists collaborated on devising and delivering public experiments and interventions in the city.
Experiments were based at the School of Visual Arts’ BioArt Lab, the Metropolitan Museums’ Media Lab, and public sites across the city. The project was prompted by the First International Physarum Transport Networks Workshop, held at Columbia University, New York City.
Biolace, Professor Carole Collet
The BioLace project is designed to probe the potential of a biological manufacturing future by exploring the cellular programming of morphogenesis in plant systems. The project aims to translate synthetic biology into accessible design scenarios to expose and understand the societal implications of new emerging technologies. The BioLace project poses the following questions: Can synthetic biology become a potential sustainable technology for future textile manufacturing? Will crafting molecules become a new way to produce textiles? Could biology combined with nanotechnology enable us to engineer intelligence in materials to program smart and responsive biological textiles?
The Physarum Experiments, Dr Heather Barnett (2009 -)
A body of artistic research created with the slime mould, Physarum polycephalum, a single-celled amoeba employed as a model organism within a wide range of disciplinary domains. The Physarum Experiments is an ongoing multifaceted enquiry examining nonhuman subjecthood and relational agency, producing outputs in the form of artworks, methods for co-enquiry, and critical texts. Also: ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/id/eprint/14816
Contextualising new knowledge via publications and citations
See individual members' profiles for up to date lists of publications: UAL Research Online.
Selected key publications
Barnett, H. (2023) ‘Drawing Out the Superorganism: Artistic Intervention and the Amplification of Processes of Life’, in G. Anderson-Tempini and J. Dupré (eds) Drawing Processes of Life: molecules, cells, organisms. Intellect Books, pp. 193–218.
Barnett, H. (2022) ‘The Physarum Experiments’, Antennae: The Journal of Nature in Visual Culture, Microbial Ecologies (59), pp. 223–233.
Barnett, H. Cohen, N. Holme, A. Polymathic pedagogies: creating the conditions for interdisciplinary enquiry in art and science. In: Rogers, H. S., Halpern, M. K. and Hannah, D. (2021) Routledge handbook of art, science, and technology studies. Andover: Routledge Ltd.
Barnett, Heather. Being Other Than We Are… in PUBLIC Journal #59 Interspecies Communication, Summer 2019. Editors: Meredith Tromble and Patricia Olynyk.
Barnett, Heather (2019) Many-Headed: Co-creating with the Collective in Slime Mould in Arts and Architecture (ed. Andrew Adamatzky). River Publishers.
Barnett, H. and Bright, R. (eds) (2017) ‘The Subjective Lives of Others’, Interalia Magazine (36).
Collet, C. (2023). Towards a Life-Conducive System Reset for Textile Colouring. Book Chapter in: Niinimaki, K. Lohmann, J. (Eds). Bio Colours, Sustainable Stories from Nature, Lab and Industry. Aalto University. P.159-183.
Collet, C. (2022). Rewilding Design. How do we Design to Restore the Cacophony of Life? Catalogue Essay in: Wood, C. (Ed.). Our Time On Earth. Exhibition Catalogue. Barbican. P. 84-96.
Collet, C. (2021). Biotextiles: making textiles in a context of climate and biodiversity emergency. Book Chapter in: Pedgley, O. Rognoli, V. Karana, E. (Eds). Material Experience 2: Expanding Territories of Materials and Design. Butterworth-Heinemann.
Collet, C. (2020). Designing our future bio-materiality. AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication.
Congdon, A. Di Silvio, L. Collet, C. (2020). Tissue Engineered Textiles: Craft's place in the laboratory. In: Crafting Anatomies: Archives, dialogues, fabrications. Bloomsbury Visual Arts, pp. 137-148.
Collet, C. (2019). Le biodesign, un Catalyseur d’Innovation Ecologique pour l ‘Industrie Textile?. Catalogue Essay in: La Fabrique Du Vivant. Exhibition Catalogue, Centre Pompidou. Editions Hyx.
Collet, C. (2018). Biotextiles: Evolving Textile Design Practices for the Bioeconomy and the Emerging Organism Industry. In: Soft Landing. Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Helsinki, Finland, pp. 87-99.
Ribul, M. Goldsworthy, K. Collet, C. (2021). Material-Driven Textile Design (MDTD): A Methodology for Designing Circular Material-Driven Fabrication and Finishing Processes in the Materials Science Laboratory. Sustainability, 13 (3)
Williams, N. Collet, C. (2020). Biodesign and the Allure of “Grow-made” Textiles: An Interview with Carole Collet. GeoHumanities.
Citations and features
Heather Barnett and Carole Collet are both featured in the book:
Myers, W. (2015) Bio art: altered realities. New York, New York: Thames & Hudson.
Knowledge exchange
We also engage in external collaborations and public engagements that stimulate the sharing of biocentric knowledge and a cultural shift towards a flourishing world.
Slimemoldesque, Ferment Radio (2023)
Interview with Heather Barnett exploring themes of interspecies artistic research, playful pedagogies and slime mould subjecthood.
Encounters: David Zilber and Heather Barnett on Co-Creating with Nature (2023)
An invited conversation between artist Heather Barnett and fermentation chef David Zilber. Barbican Centre, London
Design for planet fellowship, Design Council (2022)
Prof Carole Collet was awarded a fellowship by the design council. This fellowship scheme was initiated to help address the climate emergency through design, and collaborate towards the production of a publication and podcasts that can inform our creative sector.
Biostories, re-envioning relationships with nature (2022) [PDF]
Produced by Faber Futures in collaboration with the Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology at the World Economic Forum. Prof Carole Collet in conversation with Janavi Phalkey Founding Director, Science Gallery Bengaluru.
Ferment TV (2020)
Ferment TV is an experimental space for virtual gatherings by Ginkgo Bioworks in partnership with London-based agency Faber Futures. Prof. Carole Collet is in conversation with Dr Brenda Parker for ‘Science in the making’, episode 6.
MAAT online symposium (2020)
A co-curated symposium with the Living Systems Lab members and the Museum of Art Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal.
Residency (2019)
Nina Williams, Cultural Geographer in residence 2020
Biosalon (2015)
How will the intersection of design and biological fabrication open up to new ways of ‘making’ and ‘crafting’ in the future? Biosalon is a joint initiative organised by the Crafts Council and the Living Systems Lab to stimulate a critical discourse across science and design. (pdf to download)
The Creeping Garden (2014), Arrow films.
Heather Barnett features in the award-winning documentary film on plasmodial slime moulds and the curious humans who work with them, plus the accompanying publication:
Sharp, J. and Grabham, T. (2015) The creeping garden: irrational encounters with plasmodial slime moulds. First edition. Godalming, Surrey, England, U.K: Alchimia.
TED talk “What humans can learn from semi-intelligent slime” (2014)
Heather Barnett was invited to share some lessons from the art and science of slime mould at a TED Salon in Berlin and published online with over 1.4 million views.