When they decide give life to the birds, they blew divinely on the Guayacan tree. The Popol Vuh sacred book of the Mayan culture relates that Kukulkan, God of creation, and Tepeu, God of the Heaven, created the world. “Guayacan Feathers” by Marlene Luengas Bautista and Yanet Tovar from Instituto Nacional de Pediatria in Mexico City, Mexico. As a flamenco dancer myself, I wanted to use my passion for agar art to pay tribute to one of my other passions. Together, these microbes portray a living representation of a graceful Flamenco performance. Her black curls, elegantly gathered in a bun, are composed of Salmonella enterica. The pink flowers in her hair and her gold hoop earrings are thanks to Staphylococcus saprophyticus and Micrococcus luteus, respectively.
#BEACH PAINTING IN PINK TONES SKIN#
Her ivory white skin is made from a blend of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans. Her skirt is tastefully painted with Klebsiella pneumoniae and Enterococcus faecalis.
My piece depicts a flamenco dancer mid-turn, twisting her skirt and facing away from the audience. “Fiesta Flamenca” is my microbial homage to this beautiful style of art. It has a rich cultural history and was created by the gypsy people of Andalucía, Spain. “Fiesta Flamenca” by Mireya Duran from Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas, Texas.įlamenco is an intricate art form, a vehicle of expression, capable of depicting soft and sweet emotions as well as anger and strength. Before taking the picture, the plates were incubated for five days at room temperature. They are sitting on a LED-light plate, providing bright lights from below and accentuating the strokes in the blossoms. The concept consists of five smaller (9 cm/3,54 in in diameter) and two bigger (14,5 cm/5,71 in in diameter) agar plates. The composition of agar plates was chosen to resemble giant lotus pads swimming on a lake, now creating tiny lakes for the waterlilies themselves. Lactic acid is formed by the well-known bacterium Escherichia coli when fermenting the lactose which is found in the agar. Containing the pH sensitive indicator bromothymol blue, which turns yellow at an acid pH, meaning a pH lower than 7, a color shift from blue to yellow is caused by the presence of acids, lactic acid for example. The scientific background behind the yellow parts of the waterlilies is a fascinating discoloration of the CLED agar. The white, fluffy looking parts of the lilies come about due to Geotrichum candidum, a mildew, living in dairy as well as the human buccal mucosa and lungs. The green pads were realized by making a solution comprising sterile water and Micrococcus luteus and applying it to the agar with a brush as well.
It was applied with brushes to achieve the fine strokes in the blossoms. In fact, they were drawn with Rhodococcus rhodochrous, an orange appearing bacterium which is primarily found in soil and water.
But once you have a closer look you will recognize that those lilies are actually microorganisms growing on cystine-lactose-electrolyte-deficient (CLED) agar plates. Hopf and Michael Lanzinger from University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf in Freising, Germany.Īt first glance, you can see a cluster of waterlilies blooming on clear lakes. “Microlilies” by Sonja Borndörfer, Norbert W. Microbes grown on agar by participants who have access to, and created their work in, a formal laboratory setting like a university or industrial lab 1 st Place