The 'Bichi' project metabolic pathways, biological food chains, and global networks

Pat Badani discusses how digital media and the use of food serve to design speculative new edibles in times when the future of food is jeopardized by the anthropogenically induced change in climate that causes biodiversity loss and food chain disruptions. Fertilized by different streams of thought related to food availability, Bichi is a practice-as-research project highlighting the need for ecological balance to secure the future of food. The artist examines the connecting threads between human and more-than-human nutrimental systems through projects that are born in her kitchen and further developed through computer technology. In the manner of culinary chefs whose professional kitchens act as design studios and manufacturing plants that innovate and transform ingredients; Badani's kitchen is the springboard for DIY science in the creation of discreet sustenance networks between bio-sculpture material, mold, and fungi, leading to the design of evocative 'animal-human-vegetal-polygender' 3D simulations positioned between the organic and the computational. Exposing the porousness of boundaries between what might appear as separate registers: subject/object, fact/fiction, and science/culture, these electronically re-engineered bio-sculptures contribute knowledge essential to assure the resilience of nutritional systems, underscoring the need to channel efforts towards adaptation and balanced coexistence.

Automated summary

The article discusses the use of digital media and food to design speculative new edibles in response to the threats to future food supply caused by climate change. The artist explores the connection between human and non-human nutritional systems and creates 3D simulations to emphasize the importance of adaptation and balanced coexistence.