GMU:Life in an aquatic ecosystem

Mindaugas Gapševičius & Alessandro Volpato

Mondays, 15.30-18.30

Last semester, we started a rainwater pond in the campus garden. The onset of a tiny freshwater body created space for a small ecosystem to set on, and generated additional motivation to study the microbes colonizing the pond, from an artistic perspective.

The upcoming semester we will concentrate on its evolving ecosystem: Who lives there, which microbes colonized it first, what do their interactions look like and what are the effects of human intervention on the development of the ecosystem?

During the course we will observe how different species interact within this aquatic ecosystem, track the evolution of the outside natural pond and compare it with a laboratory artificial replica of it.

We have outlined several experiments that we will begin with:

1) Compare the microbiomes in different parts of the pond;

2) Hunt, domesticate, grow and release tardigrades into the pond and see how they adapt to it;

3) Study growth conditions of different photosynthetic organisms in presence or absence of fundamental nutrients;

The experiments are designed to teach students how methods used in the life sciences can be applied in arts and how their use can lead to a different quality in an artwork. The experiments will shed light on how, for example, lawn fertilizer or the change in pH of water affects the ecosystem. The result of the course is an artistic project documented in the wiki.

Please send your motivation (3-4 sentences) to mindaugas.gapsevicius@uni-weimar.de. Preference will be given to students who want to explore art-science methods and aquatic ecosystems.