BOISBUCHET RESIDENCY PROGRAMME
JOANNE JONES AND ROBIN NICOLI
SEASON 2022
Joanne Jones is a bio-inclusive designer, researcher, and musician based in Paris. Her ongoing research focuses on interspecies collaboration with bioassembled materials as a conduit for conscious creation with the other-than-human. Accompanied by musician Robin Nicoli, together they developed an interactive sound installation for making music with kombucha.
Joanne’s master’s thesis in Nature Inspired Design at ENSCI – Les Ateliers, Material Rituals with the Other: Interspecies Collaboration for New Regenerative Futures, focused on the concept of interspecies collaboration with bioassembled materials. Through her design explorations, she has developed a collaborative practice with kombucha leather, a bioassembled material produced by bacterial cellulose. Embracing acts of care, ritual, and ceremony, her praxis embodies the acknowledgment that the nonhuman possesses agency beyond the human. The residency at Boisbuchet was an opportunity to further put her theory into practice, centered on the concept of music production with kombucha. Alongside creative partner Robin Nicoli, she began collaborating on a sound installation that revolves around the use of a sound device that operates on electrical resistance through touch. By connecting two kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast) to the device, and then connecting the device to musical software, you can create different sounds by touching the SCOBY. The number of fingers, the amount of pressure, and the duration of time used to touch the SCOBY directly affect the frequency (pitch), amplitude (gain or loudness), and duration of the notes that you hear.
“Time spent at Boisbuchet was the occasion to ground this practice in an environment conducive to the act of collaborating with nature. The Domaine allowed an escape from the containment of a small Parisian studio to connect more wholly with nature in all of its forms and to further develop every aspect of the project in collaboration with the kombucha.”
With the help of Robin’s technical expertise, they experimented with a musical rendition of interspecies collaboration while deeply surrounded and influenced by nature. Inspired by the spirit of the Domaine, they created an altar for the kombucha music production and curated a meditative space to welcome guests into collaboration with the other-than-human.