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==='''Experimenting with the Slime Mold and Researching'''=== | ==='''Experimenting with the Slime Mold and Researching'''=== | ||
''First Attempts'' | '''First Attempts''' | ||
<gallery mode="traditional" widths=300px heights=200px> | <gallery mode="traditional" widths=300px heights=200px> | ||
File:Microscopy of Slime Mold.jpg|Microscopy of ''Physarum Polycephalum'' | File:Microscopy of Slime Mold.jpg|Microscopy of ''Physarum Polycephalum'' | ||
File:Camphoto 579758561.JPG|Most of the petri dishes I brought home became contaminated with some sort of silky mold. | File:Camphoto 579758561.JPG|Most of the petri dishes I brought home became contaminated with some sort of silky mold. | ||
</gallery> | </gallery> | ||
{{#ev:vimeo|643949703|240|left|}} | {{#ev:vimeo|643949703|240|left|}} | ||
My first timelapse turned out pretty bad with lots of flickering lights and moving shadows. Next time I will try a darker background and artificial lighting. I also realized trying to record multiple petri dishes at once is not such a good idea. | My first timelapse turned out pretty bad with lots of flickering lights and moving shadows. Next time I will try a darker background and artificial lighting. I also realized trying to record multiple petri dishes at once is not such a good idea. | ||
Something useful I learned with this timelapse is how difficult it can be to manipulate the slime mold. I tried using different arrangements and amounts of oat in each dish but at the end every dish turned out different than expected. | Something useful I learned with this timelapse is how difficult it can be to manipulate the slime mold. I tried using different arrangements and amounts of oat in each dish but at the end every dish turned out different than expected. | ||
'''Concept research''' | '''Concept research''' | ||
I found the Physarum to be a very powerful being in its own way. It is very resilient, very easily adapting to changes in the environment, capable of resuscitation and of course possesses a complex navigational mechanism. Even though this organism is able to survive in such an incredibly unique way, I feel like we, as humans, subconsciously (or consciously) perceive the ''Physarum Polycephalum'' as a being that is ultimately inferior to us. | I found the Physarum to be a very powerful being in its own way. It is very resilient, very easily adapting to changes in the environment, capable of resuscitation and of course possesses a complex navigational mechanism. Even though this organism is able to survive in such an incredibly unique way, I feel like we, as humans, subconsciously (or consciously) perceive the ''Physarum Polycephalum'' as a being that is ultimately inferior to us. | ||
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My goal is to break this hierarchy in some way and serve the Slime Mold. I want to allow the Slime Mold to exploit ''me''. Some might say that this pyramid is already losing its form and (some) humans are starting to see other creatures at an equal level to themselves, in terms of importance. My observation is that almost everyone, including me, who thinks this way, only direct their sympathy towards complex, multicellular organisms, which they can emotionally relate to in some way. This is a reason why I want to go further than this selective equality and see the ''Physarum Polycephalum'', a unicellular organism, as being not equal to me, but more important than me as an inhabitant of the earth. | My goal is to break this hierarchy in some way and serve the Slime Mold. I want to allow the Slime Mold to exploit ''me''. Some might say that this pyramid is already losing its form and (some) humans are starting to see other creatures at an equal level to themselves, in terms of importance. My observation is that almost everyone, including me, who thinks this way, only direct their sympathy towards complex, multicellular organisms, which they can emotionally relate to in some way. This is a reason why I want to go further than this selective equality and see the ''Physarum Polycephalum'', a unicellular organism, as being not equal to me, but more important than me as an inhabitant of the earth. | ||
''Experimenting'' | '''Experimenting''' | ||
To be the Physarum's "slave", I need to first be comfortable with letting it grow freely and to the max. | To be the Physarum's "slave", I need to first be comfortable with letting it grow freely and to the max. | ||