Decon: Deconstruction, Decontamination, Decomposition

The Project Decon aims to explore biotechnology methods and materials as artmedia, in order to create paintings that are literally alive and changing while exhibited. Reproductions of Piet Mondrian’s geometric paintings will be created on bacterial solid growth medium supplement with azo dyes (the largest and most versatile class of dyes recalcitrant to degradation) . The colors from those paintings will be progressively degraded by the bacteria Pseudomonas putida MET94. During the development phase of the Project the artist will work alongside the scientists researching the conditions to adapt bacterial action to exhibition conditions at Art Galleries. These paintings will be artworks that will only exist while they are being degraded. Thus, one can interpret those paintings as a process of death and decomposition of the artwork.