Most people think of bacteria in terms of infections and disinfectants. Erich Schopf, a bacteriologist at the University of Vienna, thinks of colour, and actually paints with bacteria!
The fact that bacteria use pigments to protect themselves against UV radiation gave him the idea to use them as paint. He gathers his raw material from the ground, water and air – mostly in Vienna, but also during travels that take him all the way to places like New Zealand, Greenland and Iceland. In their nutrient solution, the bacteria are colourless at first. It is only after they are cultured in an incubation chamber that the colours come forth.
The most beautiful ones are taken up by Erich Schopf in his “palette” and given an artistic name that describes their effect and often relates to their place of origin. Snorri-Orange, for example, is named after the Old Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson. Schopf found this bacterium in West Iceland in Sturluson’s house after it was uncovered by archaeologists.
In his artwork, the “Picasso of Protozoa” (P.M. Magazin) applies the bacteria in their nutrient solution to a “canvas”. Because bacteria do not always harmonize, the artist not only paints “blindly” with the colourless liquid, but also acts as “director”. Initially, the living paintings take on colour and form in his imagination only. They don’t actually become visible until after being placed in an incubator at an exact temperature between 23.5°C and 25.3°C, which Schopf adjusts depending on the creation and the desired effect.
Source:
http://www.binder-world.com/eu/en/company/binder-news.cfm/binder/83/laborschraenke-umweltsimulation/painting-with-bacteria.cfm
