Mute Track is an installation featuring kinetically moving SCOBYs (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacterial Yeast) which grew over several months, each weighing around 50 kilos and shaped like a triangle- 180 cm long and 120 cm at the widest point. Both SCOBYs are sewn to a webbing structure attached to a rotating motor, supported by a metal structure. The exhibition consists of a simple choreography: beginning from a resting position, the motor gradually increases in speed, taking the SCOBY from a slow circling motion into a faster rotation that stretches its fleshy form. At around 8 miles per hour, it appears to flip from front to back. After stopping, the action begins again.
The exhibition pictured above was put on with Atoi Gallery at Labayru Market in Bilbao, The Basque Country which opened in 1966. Historically, the market sold fresh-produce across 65 stalls between two floors; today, five remain on the ground floor. The show ran in fall 2025. In the same year, the exhibition toured to Sismógrafo in Porto, Portugal and to St.Chads in London, United Kingdom (pictured below).
Thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts for supporting the touring exhibition; to Robert Mcleod and Adrian Castaneda for work on the metal structure; to Andrew Dixon for works on the motor control boxes; to Tractora collective for producing the exhibition in Bilbao; to The Basque Biodesign Centre and Mai Kombucha for growing the SCOBY; to Gerard Ortin Castellví and Jorge Latas for general support during installation.
Sismógrafo
St.Chads
