E-COTUNING

︎‘E-cotuning’ is an audio-visual tool meant as a bionic musical interface using the internal algorithm of the microorganism Physarum Polycephalum, also known as slime mold. Made up of millions of nuclei, operating as a single entity, the amoeba Physarum Polycephalum possesses neither a brain nor any sensory organs, and bears no morphological resemblance to humans. Yet, its behaviour has some familiar characteristics to those of humans—high-level network optimisation capabilities, and the ability to learn from and adapt to surrounding environments. For example, during its foraging activities, the pulsation of this microorganism produces electric waves that correspond to different physiological states. It is possible to decode its frequencies by retrieving real-time data and subsequently simulating this behaviour through audio-visual representation.

︎The video is a conjunction of Physarum’s extracted frequencies played back by musician Tomás Gubbins Correa, using different synthesizers. The result is an electronic symphony and an invitation to empathise with nonhuman systems, to listen to them. The music video was showcased on the occasion of the 5th Istanbul Biennale 2021.