L’Origine du Monde is an artistic representation of the research by AnneMarie Maes into the possibilities of cyanobacteria and algae as sources for renewable energy, pollution sensors and novel biodegradable materials.
The living sculpture shows a strongly enlarged bacterial chain made from glass cells. Every cell is filled with cyanobacteria producing photosynthesis in real time. Together they form a complex microbial population that communicates via quorum sensing and reduces CO2 emission whilst producing oxygen and biopolymers.

L’Origine du Monde was created during a STARTS residency with the Hybrid Forms Laboratorium at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. It builds upon the speculative project Guerrilla Beehive 2.0, in which the beehive’s sensors are powered by a cyanobacterial biofilm. Bees and bacteria work together to scan the environment on different degrees of pollution.

L’Origine du Monde will be on show at the following exhibitions:

The New Green Deal, produced by Gluon at Snowball (Evolis 104) Harelbeke, Belgium, as a Regional STARTS Event until March 20, 2020.
http://gluon.be/the-new-green-deal-2/

STARTS Residencies Days, at le Centquatre (5 rue Curial) in Paris, France. From February 28 through March 1, 2020.
https://www.starts.eu/agenda/starts-residencies-days/detail/