Abstract

This research-creation folio presents the processual and technical development of a bio-inspired architectural installation that invests the ecological imprint of images. Originally presented during the 2021 ‘’Matières d’images’’ exhibition held at the Centre Pompidou in Paris (Hors Pistes Festival), Fossilation is a large suspended bioplastic membrane that repurposes food waste. The installation includes an electronic and electrical apparatus that harvests the residual energies of the museum to create fluctuating light patterns. Membranes are porous interfaces that participate in metabolic exchanges and enable and foreclose the mobility of information across systems. By reinvesting the relational operations of membranes, Fossilation makes us more attuned to the extractive origins of our contemporary forms of communication and develops new forms of cooperation between materiality, technology, humans, and ecological milieux. The publication is organized around seven key thematics that pertain to the making of Fossilation: The Ecology of Images, Fossils, Fossilation’s Ingredients, Bioplastics, Systems Architecture for Energy and Light, Nurturing Slow Expectations, and Membrane as Relay. Together these organizing forces render visible the resonances and contrasts between the conceptual, material, technological and methodological dimensions of the piece. With an emphasis on slow and low-tech methods, this folio examines how Fossilation might contribute to next-generation living architecture. The authors conclude the discussion by sharing the Fossilation collective’s onion pie recipe, the Pissaladière.