[ISEA2023] Artists Talk: Lisa Moren & Tsvetan Bachvaroff — Under the bay

Artists Statement

Theme: Ecosystems – Climate Change Subtheme: Symbiotic Imaginaries

Keywords: Augmented Reality, AR, bio-art, data-driven narrative, emergent strategies, Tao te Ching, water, symbiosis, dinoflagellates, Chesapeake Bay, estuary, marine biology, performance, microbes, media art, podcast, experimental narrative, bio-architecture, ted nelson, data-driven music.

‘Under the Bay’ is a data-narrative telling the story of a world beneath the surface of the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in North America. A user can point their cell phone at the water like a microscope and see and hear the hidden invisibilities under the Chesapeake Bay. When they do, a series of animated stories between humans and non-humans emerge. The goal of the project was to share authorship with the microbes and their marine environment as much as possible. Sensors already in the Bay stream live data including pH, oxygen, temperature etc. This data affects how the animation and originally composed sound score of this augmented reality project are perceived.

The project is by artist Lisa Moren and marine biologist Dr. Tsvetan Bachvaroff who directed the
science and incoming project data. Stories are written and told by Lisa Moren who art directed the animation and scenes. The sound score is by electronic composer Dan Deacon. Dr. Marc Olano led the software engineering and development for the AR app in IOS and Google Play.

  • Tsvetan Bachvaroff (USA) In addition to receiving his Certificate in Emergency Medical Services and serving as a Paramedic with the Baltimore City Fire Department for three years, Tsvetan Bachvaroff received his B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins University and Ph.D. from the University of Maryland College Park. He was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the Center of Marine Biotechnology and subsequently with the Smithsonian Institution. He assumed his present position in 2013 as Research Associate Professor for the University of Maryland Center for environmental science at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET). Presently his research is focused on dinoflagellate evolution with special emphasis on the parasitic dinoflagellates, using large scale sequencing and phylogenetic methods to describe the evolutionary history of different types of genes in dinoflagellates. https://www.umces.edu/tsvetan-bachvaroff
  • Lisa Moren (USA) is a multi-disciplinary artist who works with emerging media, bio-matter, public space and works-on-paper. Lisa Moren is a Professor of Visual Art at the University of Maryland Baltimore County [UMBC], USA. https://www.lisamoren.com