999 years 13sqm (the future belongs to ghosts)

Armstrong, Rachel; Ieropoulos, Ioannis; Ferracina, Simone; Scravaglieri, Pierangelo; You, Jiseon; Hughes, Rolf; Evans, Cecile B; Hall, Tom; Brinson, Patrick; Arni, Dominik; Khalaf, Amal; Mendis, Arjuna; Gavriel, Mati; Armstrong, Rachel; Gavriel, Matt; Evans, Cecile B

Author:

Armstrong, Rachel

Ieropoulos, Ioannis ; Ferracina, Simone ; Scravaglieri, Pierangelo ; You, Jiseon ; Hughes, Rolf ; Evans, Cecile B ; Hall, Tom ; Brinson, Patrick ; Arni, Dominik ; Khalaf, Amal ; Mendis, Arjuna ; Gavriel, Mati ; Armstrong, Rachel ; Gavriel, Matt ; Evans, Cecile B

Abstract:

As the original version of Living Architecture could not be exposed directly to the general public owing to the presence of genetically modified organisms, an alternative wild-type experience of a prototype wall system entitled 999 years 13sqm (the future belongs to ghosts), was developed for the “Is this tomorrow exhibition” at the Whitechapel Gallery, in collaboration with artist Cecile B Evans (Whitechapel Gallery, 2019) (Bevan, 2019). Taking the form of a future apartment space, the installation housed a screen-based system powered by natural anaerobic biofilms within an array of “living bricks.” The work created a context for the microbial infrastructure, envisaging a time beyond modernity as a vision of the future where humanity is facing new challenges posed by big data, bioengineering and climate change. Comprising a post human “household” powered by microbes, the space was inhabited by digital ghosts of the past, present and future, as the only traces of human life