- ChRY

Generative Living Pixels

An Interactive Bioart Project Using Slime Mold’s Memristive Properties to Transform Human-Drawn Pixel Art Into Dynamic Visual Output

TEAM: Ruyan Chen

MY JOB: Grow Slime Mold, Circuitry, Coding, Interaction Design, 3D Modeling & Printing

TOOLS: Slime Mold, Microcontroller, CircuitPython, P5.js, Houdini, 3D Printer

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Inspired by the BioComputer Music work by scholars Eduardo Miranda and Edward Braund, Generative Living Pixels involves mapping RGB values of human-drawn pixelated paintings into voltage, applying voltage to slime mold which function as a bio-memristor that introduces randomness, reading and mapping output current back to RGB values to create an output that cannot be predicted.

CONCEPT & INSPIRATION

The concept for this project is inspired by the groundbreaking research of Professor Eduardo Miranda and his colleagues, as detailed in papers such as “A Nonlinear Approach to Generate Creative Data using Physarum polycephalum-based Memristors” and “BioComputer Music: Generating Musical Responses with Physarum polycephalum-Based Memristors.” These works detail that the memristive properties of slime mold enables it to remember the history of charge it is being applied and alter its resistance as a function of the previous charge that has flown through it. They explore the use of this property to create a bio music composer, highlighting the potential of integrating biological systems into creative processes.

We are in an era of burgeoning AI-generated content (AIGC) and generative media, which are expanding our creative potential by enabling new forms of artistic expression. I’m interested to find out how the memristive properties of slime mold can offer another avenue for exploration in this space.

OBJECTIVES

To utilize the memristive properties of slime mold in generating creative visual output.
To reconsider the intrinsic roles that living organisms, in this case, the slime mold, play in our technological and creative expressions.
To explore the potential of the collaboration between human creators and non-human living organisms in creative processes.

PROCESS & METHODOLOGY

Fabrication of 3D Printed Receptacles

I used the paper “A Method for Growing Bio-memristors from Slime Mold” by Professor Miranda and his colleagues as a reference for fabricating 3D receptacles. These receptacles are essential for containing the slime mold and integrating it into the circuit.

Growing Slime Mold

I cultivated slime mold on filter paper and agar in petri dishes, regularly feeding them water and oats to sustain their growth. Due to their susceptibility to contamination, I transferred healthy slime mold to new petri dishes weekly to ensure a consistent supply of viable samples.

I used the paper by Professor Miranda and his colleagues as a reference for cultivating slime mold in the receptacle. Agar and oat flakes (food for slime mold) were added to each of the receptacles’s chambers. Slime mold was placed in one of the two chambers so that it would grow towards the other chamber and form a **protoplasmic tube** that would function as a living wire.

It took numerous attempts to consistently produce healthy protoplasmic tubes. Due to the slime mold’s susceptibility to contamination, I created new protoplasmic tubes weekly to maintain a reliable supply.

Circuitry

With guidance from Professor Mark Olson and by referencing Professor Miranda and his colleagues’ paper, “A Nonlinear Approach to Generate Creative Data using Physarum polycephalum-based Memristors”, I built a circuit and wrote the CircuitPython script that would map the RGB values of pixelated paintings into voltage, apply the voltage to slime mold, and read the output current to map it back into RGB values.The script can be found ***HERE***.

The script performs a bio-computational task. By adjusting the voltage based on input RGB value, the slime mold’s resistance changes dynamically. This dynamic behavior reflects its memristive nature and influences the output current, which is then mapped back to RGB values to create unpredictable result.

Building Interaction Interface

To achieve the objective of exploring the potential of the collaboration between human creators and non-human living organisms in creative processes, I created an INTERFACE using P5.js on which the users would be able to create pixel art. Using serial communication, the RGB values of pixel drawings will be sent from P5 to the microcontroller running the CircuitPython script. Mapping procedure will then be done, which will eventually send a new set of RGB values back to P5. New pixel drawings are displayed below the original ones.