Monthly Archives: March 2023

Singing Compost [heap#1], with Harun Morrison

 

Singing Compost [heap#1]

A collaboration between Harun Morrison and Paul Granjon

 

Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into a valuable fertilizer that can enrich soil and plants. The compost material contains electrogenic bacteria, microbes that release electrons as part of their metabolic process.

 

The presence of such bacteria (Shewanella Oneidensis, Geobacter…) in most soils has led to the development of microbial fuel cells (MFCs), also known as mud batteries. MFCs capture this electronic flow for powering low-power circuits such as environmental sensors.

 

Research in MFC design has established that growing live plants in the cell benefits the lifespan of the bacteria. These batteries are called Plant MFCs.

 

An array of 16 plant MFCs are integrated into the bed of the Singing Compost, their electrical output channelled to a circuit producing sounds that vary according to the voltage produced.

 

Singing Compost [heap#1] is installed in the Art Research Garden of Goldsmiths University London.

 

Mud batteries saga continues

In 2016-17 I worked with bio-engineer Michka Melo on microbial fuel cells, also known as mud batteries. We conducted various experiments in my studio and in the FabLab at Cardiff Metropolitan University, attempting to make an open source design for use in art and design, education, diy off-grid applications. We presented our result in the V&A’s Digital Design Festival in September 2017.

You can find an account of our experiments here.

 

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In 2018 I was commissioned for a new robotic art installation for the exhibition Y Las Cosas Que Hacemos (and the things we make) in Bilbao, Spain. I made 11 Mudbots, small mobile robots powered by microbial fuel cells (MFCs), loosely inspired by the dung beetle. The MFCs in the Mudbots did not work for long and the installation relied on human power for most of the duration of the exhibition. More info here.

 

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Slightly disgruntled by the experience, I stored the Mudbots and focused on other matters for a couple of years. In 2021 I was contacted by Mexican product designer Tony Gutierrez who had found out about the Mudbots. Toni had developed Mosby, a very elegant design for MFCs that includes living moss. The moss contributes to a healthy bacterial population. We agreed to share best practice of Tony’s long-lasting MFC units and my electronic designs towards an open-source recipe for easy to make and maintain mud batteries.

 

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With my interest in MFCs renewed, I received a small grant from Cardiff School of Art and Design towards further experiments with plant MFCs using bryophytes (moss), taking inspiration from Mosby and from experiments conducted by Paolo Bombelli in Cambridge. The grant was also used for designing an electricity harvesting module with an electronic engineer. I presented the mixed results of this new wave of experiments at the Beyond conference in Cardiff in autumn 2022, see poster here.

 

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I am now working on a new wave of MFCs, using a simpler and easier to maintain design with vertical electrodes, that so far is giving good results. In collaboration with artist Harun Morrison we will implement in March 2023 an installation at Goldsmith University London. Located in a garden on campus, Singing Compost will convert the electrical activity of MFCs embedded in the soil into sound. More details coming soon.

 

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My long time friend and brilliant sci-artist Antony Hall is also working on MFCs at the moment, check his work here, a collaboration is in the pipeline.