Territorial Inhalations
How does an artist, armed with a backpack and fungi, understand the quality of our air?
In Territorial Inhalations artist Ana Laura Cantera explored the air we breathe in cities like Bengaluru and Buenos Aires. A backpack, equipped with fungi-based biomaterial filters and an electronic system, captured tiny airborne particles as the artist walked with it through the city. Over time, these filters changed colour, exposing the hidden pollutants under seemingly clear skies. These transformed filters served a dual purpose: to make pollutants that are invisible to the human eye visible, and to form a modern cyanometer used to measure the colour of the sky.
Medium: Backpack, 3D printed funnels, Electronic devices, Mycelium, Yerba mate biomaterial filter
Year: 2022-2023
Team
Ana Laura Cantera
Artist
Ana Laura Cantera is a transmedia artist, researcher and professor. She works at the intersection of art, technology, science, and sustainability from a decolonial perspective. She is currently a PhD candidate in Arts and Techno-aesthetics and has a Master's degree in Electronic Arts at National University of Tres de Febrero, a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts and a degree as Art Teacher at University of Arts (UNA).
Cantera is a developer and creator of biomaterials, specialising in designs grown from mushroom mycelium and in bio-based materials made with local waste. Recently, she received the First Prize Itaú in the Robotic Arts category and the Global Community Bio Fellows fellowship at MIT. She also leads research projects linked to bio-interactivity and 3D bio-printing. She has exhibited her artworks in exhibitions and festivals across the world.
