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Autoinducer_Ph-1 (cross cultural chemistry) exploits a traditional rice cultivation technique from SE Asia where Azolla is grown in large quantities and used as an organic, nitrogen rich fertilizer in the rice paddies. In the installation this process is reworked in an overly complexified, industrial, laboratory style way as a reflection on western agricultural techniques, our modern relationships with nature and the networked, machinic nature of ecologies. Featuring an assemblage of pond-like structures, electronics, laboratory and hydroponic equipment Autoinducer_Ph-1 probes into and interferes with the symbiotic relationship between the cyanobacteria Anabaena and the water fern Azolla. Notions of data and information systems inherent in the relationships between the organic protagonists of the installation, and how they may be augmented, are realised by a synthetic software-based bacteria that interacts with them in its assumed roles of part time symbiont and part time parasite. Video projections which display evolution of the GCS graphic environment, and highly magnified video of Anabaena cultured under a video microscope. Outcomes of this complex relationship and its proximity to symbiotic or parasitic characteristics determine the behaviours of the robotic rice farming system that forms the physical bulk of the installation. The installation loops biological, electro-robotic and computing processes together in a literally fertile interaction where the “primal soup” aspect of the Anabaena and Azolla cultures, and fragility of the young rice shoots, contrast strikingly with the computer-generated artificial chemistry molecules of the GCS. Organic / Synthetic relationship The Generalized Cellular Signaling system, a platform for exploring emergent behaviour and intelligence using cellular systems, is the artificial intelligence model powering the synthetic bacteria. A complete virtual environment exists within GCS where individual cells act independently and communicate with other cells in either a neural fashion using relatively fixed connections, or bacterially, where signals are propagated as molecules through a medium. Digitised stimuli produced by Anabaena cultures, and which reflect their state of being, are taken up by the GCS AI system, a virtual environment featuring bacterial cells that interact with each other and with input chemicals. The culture chambers in which the Anabaena is being cultured have gas sensors connected to their exhaust tubes that provide data that accurately reflects the life state of the bacteria. This data is then fed to the GCS system in digital form, manifested as code and as graphical elements in the GCS system projection. The manner in which GCS responds to these inputs will determine its own behaviours and the generation of new code which in turn will dictate the supply of air, heat and light to the organic cultures. Thus, each side of the organic / synthetic relationship is reliant on the other for the production of ‘life-giving’ information. The more the relationship between the real and synthetic bacterial colonies takes on a symbiotic nature the more nutrient will be delivered to the rice. If the relationship veers more towards the parasitic the rice will be starved of the elements it needs. Autoinducer_Ph-1 therefore examines cross species mutualism as a basis for successful bioartificial ecologies. As a denizen of an electronic environment, GCS bacteria signals are converted into signals that control various actuators and thus the regulated environment in which the bacteria are being cultured. Through this interface, the synthetic bacteria are fully integrated into the ecosystem and exert an equal influence on the system equilibrium. Rice Farming Data generated by symbiotic behaviours between the twin bacterial systems will generate behaviours for the robotic arms. These arms are situated at each end of a central raised pool where natural Azolla is being grown. This Azolla is complete with its natural symbiont (Anabaena) and provides the nitrogen rich fertilizer for the rice paddy which forms a moat like circle around the pool. Beginning with very basic and functional behaviours the robotic arms are capable of evolving new expressive movements based on data they receive, movements which will ‘balletically’ and abstractly describe the ‘emotional’ state of the system as a whole. Their fundamental job, however, is to scoop Azolla from the pool and deliver it to the rice paddy via the ramps at each corner of the pool. At the bottom of each ramp is a spinning blade that serves to pulp and distribute the plant matter. Technical Details The installation runs various software on two computers alongside two microcontrollers. One machine running OSX runs a max/msp/jitter hub which receives output data from the bacterial interchanges and delivers appropriate responses to the robotic arms. Simultaneously the application is generated the 3D graphical visualisation of the GCS activities as well as recording, processing and replaying audio from various parts of the system. GCS runs as a distinct application, developed in Python, on a separate Linux machine which is networked to the mac. The physical interface between the GCS and the bacteria culture chambers is a Phidgets microcontroller system. The robot arms are controlled by a serial servo controller which receives serial data from the max/msp/jitter hub application on the Mac. An inverted biological microscope shows some of the cultured Anabaena at 400 times magnification. Audio is relayed around the installation by means of customised powered speaker units and home made electronics. exhibition history Autoinducer was commissioned by AV06 and exhibited at: Northern Gallery of Contemporary Art, Sunderland, March - April 2006 OK Centrum, Linz, Ars Electronica, September 2007 Taxonomies, COMAFOSCA, Alella, October 2007 - January 2008 Kapelica gallery, Ljubljana - July 2008 Synth-Ethic, Vienna, Austria - May 2011 Translife, Beijing, China - July 2011 Autoinducer_Ph-1 (cross cultural chemistry) was awarded an honourable mention in VIDA9.0 and honourable mention in the hybrid category of Ars Electronica 2007