Paleodictyon Nodosum is a type of bacteria that is held accountable for the rather beautiful deep-ocean bee-hive-like structures seen in the photo below. Despite knowing of their existence through their abandoned housing structures, no one actually knows what they look like, although there are two dominant theories.A photo of one of the Paleodictyon’s structures via Google ImagesUsing this mysterious bacterial specimen as their inspiration, AntiVJ’s visual artists Simon Geilfus, Yannick Jacquet, and composer Thomas Vaquié created their site-specific installation Paleodictyon. The piece was first shown in October, projected onto the roof of the Centre Pompidou Metz in France designed by Shigeru Ban.In the video above the organic, sea-inspired movement of these simulated bacteria is projected onto the building which shares an oceanic, natural shape. Although aesthetically appealing for the simple, intricate, and lively visuals, the music creates a stronger understanding, giving the installation its pulse.As Simon Geilfus said in his blog post with all the details regarding the coding process, the music conveys the project’s “narrative around the birth, life and death of this weird organism, and even led up to an interesting new aspect, that of the balance between two other worlds, light and darkness.”An app developed by co-creator Simon Geilfus in coincidence with the installation is also available for download. The app allows users to view the piece from new angles.For more on AntiVJ, check out our video below:
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