ARCHE Architecture of the Universe

“Every living being is an engine geared to the wheelwork of the universe. Though seemingly affecting only its immediate surroundings, its influence extends to infinite distance.”
— Nikola Tesla, February 7, 1915

SM Rk+
(Maciej Śmietański, Piotr Tadeusz Mosur, Wojciech Radtke, Grzegorz Klaman)

The works presented by the SM Rk+ group are united by a common material: bacterial cellulose.

The members of the group have based their collaboration on a shared interest in bio-art practices rooted in so-called “wet media.” Yet the focus here is not solely on the medium itself. The relationship emerges from a deeper question about the meaning of a post-humanist gesture—the inclusion of another organism and its environment in a creative process that we do not fully understand.

This proposed partnership with a non-human being (NHB) inevitably raises controversy. Is this supposed collaboration truly mutual? Does relinquishing part of the creative process constitute an actual equalization of the actors involved? Or is it merely a return to a typically anthropocentric mindset, where the dominant being simply allows the other to participate? Are these organisms truly co-creators, or are they merely being used?

These questions demand that we examine our very human tendency to judge not the process, but the product, the object, the artwork. Does the context of presentation limit perception? The group’s works reveal what is otherwise unseen—yet essential—to such questions. They urge us to turn our gaze, to look not at the result, but at the process; not at the representation, which may mislead, but at the structure, which can inspire awe.

This is akin to the symbolic act in Egypt of turning one’s head away from the tomb of Ramses II to instead see the Aswan Dam and Reservoir behind.

In these works, bacterial cellulose produced by the Acetobacter xylinum strain plays the central role. The vast majority of people are unaware of its existence—of the bacteria’s work in the hot forests of South America and Asia—focusing instead on the surrounding trees. Yet it is Acetobacter that produces the most perfect cellulose network: a structural architecture based on a 60-nanometer weave that is stronger and more logically organized than that created by trees.

Through their works, the group members expose humanity’s shortcoming in its relationship with nature—a shortcoming rooted in our tendency to focus only on what we perceive as beautiful, powerful, or majestic. Worse still, this perception is filtered through imposed and well-worn cultural templates that prevent us from truly seeing.

The architecture of cellulose and the bacteria that live within it provides an example of habitat-building that harms nothing. These organisms exist and evolve based on unique traits they have developed through evolution. They create self-sustaining environments without destruction.

Thus, the bacteria are not merely admitted into the process as collaborators. Perhaps, through a reversal of meaning, we may learn to observe others without rejecting their apparent smallness or insignificance. Perhaps we can learn something from bacteria—not in the illusion of understanding their mentality or social structure, but in respecting their existence without imposing our frameworks or patterns of cooperation.

The project was developed in collaboration with Bowil Biotech Corporation in Władysławowo, which uses Acetobacter sp. in the production of medical materials, including dura mater brain implants. The company possesses bacterial cellulose of the highest purity and genetic design standards in the world. The material described in the project features unique structural architecture, functioning as a carrier of chemical substances, a filter, or an immunologically neutral prosthesis.