Koelleven
Koelleven – attuning with microorganisms in their cooling towers
An artistic inquiry on attuning with microbes in cooling towers of nuclear energy facilities
Situated at the intersection of Bio-art, energy art and intermedia art, Koelleven explores ways of attuning with microbiota in cooling towers of nuclear power facilities. Through this work I make tangible the complex web of mutual dependencies between these overlooked econiches of biodiversity and their concrete architectural respirating hosts – structures now facing demolition as nuclear power is phased out across Europe.
Detail from replica plating panel – Photo Bartaku
Reciprocity across species boundaries
The central question driving this research asks, “How can an artistic transdisciplinary inquiry express the entanglement of microbiomes in cooling towers with air, water & human lungs through radical attuning?”. This question positions the project firmly within ecosystems of cooperation that transcend human/more-than-human divides.
Since 2023, I´ve cultivated a collaborative and polyperspective working group of microbiologists, physicists, artists and philosophers across Belgium and Finland. Our work together embodies the principle of mutual benefit through crosspollination via knowledge- and method sharing. Through this collaborative model, we´ve developed practices of Attuning – methods that allow us to recognize and respond to microbial biodiversity, metabolic exchanges, and interspecies signalling systems that sustain these unique ecological communities.
Testing biofilm titanium dioxide entangling at Le Marais, Wiels, Brussels – Photos: C. Stadlbauer
From extraction to care
Current human relationships with cooling tower microbiomes are dominated by fear and control—biofilms are routinely eliminated through biocides applied indiscriminately. Koelleven proposes an alternative relationship based on mutual care and benefit.
Site visit preparing the attuning experiment at SCK Mol – Photo: Bartaku
Photo: T. Heene
Photo: Bartaku
Koelleven is an artist-led process that interweaves microbes, light, electricity, minerals, natural-dyed solar cell, pH, breathing, gravel, slime, spirit, algae, sand, titanium dioxide, science protocol, biofilm, cooling towers, protozoa, cellulose, platinum, glass, attention, polymer, agar, bio-scaffold, salt, colourant, player, metal, iodine, uncategorize, spectrometer, root, soap, art knowledge, vibration, glass-cutter, respiration, emotion, listening, energy dreams, improvisation, air, water, animatedamoeba, ethics, glass, gelatine, latex, copper, sociomicrobiology, pyomelanin, microfiber, sanding, antibacterial agent.
Koelleven Discussion Panel: Exploring Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration in Artistic Research – Aalto University
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energy art with transdisciplinary approach