Biotinkering with kombucha

Explorative basic research through hands-on experimentation

In 2019 I had the chance to participate in the project DeForma, funded as Mini-Farb by Politecnico di Milano for basic material research on bacterial cellulose (BC). Within this research team, I investigated BC mainly through biotinkering, experimenting with it from different perspectives: testing its circular economy potential by feeding the fermentation with various agricultural waste, embedding technological components, testing low-tech treatments on the harvested material, and testing scoby’s response to different external materials. Especially the SCOBY's response to different materials helped me understand how biotinkering can be seen as a form of dialogue between designer and organism based on binary feedback loops of information. Through such relational experimentation, I could learn that Scoby also recognises vegetal cellulose as a protective layer, and this led to the development of a technique that uses cellulosic masks to create patterns derived from different BC thicknesses, which might be helpful both on an aesthetical and performative level. Bacterial cellulose from Kombucha fermentation is among the more experimented living materials in Biodesign; designers envisioned its application in different fields with sustainability as the main trigger for its application. However, not all the peculiarities of the biofilm formed by bacteria and yeasts during kombucha fermentation are known yet, as well as the response of these organisms to the various stimuli given by the designer. This experimentation is a small contribution to a better understanding of the organisms (bacteria and yeasts) that create bacterial cellulose, adding a new technique that can be used in Biodesign when dealing with Kombucha's SCOBY.