Pithos ConsTrained

Live genetically modified E. coli, glass, latex, rubber bung, copper wire ? Pithos ConsTrained is part of an ongoing project exploring ideas of use in relation to microbial life. Exhibited live for the first time at Gallery North Project Space, Northumbria University, Mackenzie has trained E. coli bacteria which she describes as bioassemblages (Bioassemblage #2) to withstand up to two weeks of existence without the need for laboratory support. The organisms are presented in a custom-built vessel that contends with the ethical constraints of developing new forms of life that are inextricably bound to human modes of production.