Second Skin challenges ‘our agency on our own body’ and invites to imagine future eating practices. Second Skin will be exhibited in the EKP Building of Avans Creative Innovation in Den Bosch in fall of 2024 as an XR exhibition: through a digital interactive layer visitors can visualize a ‘second skin’ on themselves, immersing in a futuristic dining scenario where microbiome awareness shapes eating rituals.
Exhibition details
Date: fall 2024 (starting date to be announced)
Location: EKP Building, Parallelweg 21, Den Bosch
A keynote event will be organized to delve deeper into the research and concepts behind the Second Skin project. The exact date and details will be announced soon.
About ‘Second Skin’
The human body is an ecosystem hosting billions of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, archaea, fungi and viruses) on the internal and external surfaces of the body. The total number of microorganisms in the human microbiome exceeds nearly ten times the number of human cells and surpasses more than 200 times the number of human genes. Recent studies have revealed that our growth and development are not solely dictated by our own genes but also significantly influenced by this microbiome habituated in our bodies since our birth. We have an intertwined relationship with our microbiome in that we constantly regulate the composition and number of microorganisms through our diet, lifestyle and habits, and the changes in the microbiome inevitably cause alterations in our functioning, emotional state, and behaviour.
The future of alternative food and eating practices are prominent areas in the current research and design endeavours. However, to date, the human microbiome and its effect on the human body has not been taken into account in the process of designing possible future eating practices, including eating rituals and tools, although our diet style serves as a potent force reshaping the microbiome. But, how would this new awareness about the human body that decentering our ownership of our body and perceiving the human body as an ecology affect our eating behaviour and practices?
The research conducted for the Second Skin project led to the development of the performative, multisensory XR experience ‘Microbiome Restaurant’ project, in which Hazal is positioned as the co-owner/co-director and lead designer. Microbiome Restaurant, developed in collaboration with Marcel van Brakel, founder of the esteemed studio Polymorf
, introduces a unique futuristic walk-through dining experience offering new ways of bodily gastronomy, expanding the taste paletee for the ecology of lifeforms we call the human body.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore how our understanding of the human microbiome can transform future dining practices. Visit us at the EKP Building of Avans Creative Innovation this fall (exact starting and ending dates to be established) and immerse yourself in the innovative world of microbiome-centric dining.
About Hazal
Hazal Ertürkan, a researcher and multidisciplinary designer at TU Delft and owner of Studio Bleu, explores future living concepts. In her work, she integrates living materials like bacteria and fungi into design. With this project, Hazal aims to challenge our agency over our bodies and invites visitors to imagine innovative, microbiome-aware eating practices.
The future alternative food and eating practices are a prominent area in current research and design endeavors. However, to date, the human microbiome and its affect on human body has not been taking into account during the development of possible future eating practices. But, how would seeing the human body as an ecology rather than an independent being affect our eating behaviour and practices?
The research group Biobased Art and Design capitalises on the role of artistic practice in unlocking the unique potentials of living organisms for everyday materials and communicating these to a broader public. In doing so, the group aims to instigate and accelerate our widespread understanding, further development and usage of such materials. The group’s research approach encourages tangible interactions with the living organisms, such as algae, fungi, plants and bacteria, to explore and understand their unique qualities and constraints through diverse technical and creative methods taking artists, designers and scientists as equal and active partners in the material creation.
Read more
Thank you for your subscription! Please check your email inbox to confirm.