Abstract EANA2025-37

Developed at the intersection of astrobiology and art during a LE STUDIUM Fellowship at the CNRS Center for Molecular Biophysics and École Supérieure d'Art et de Design in Orléans, BioQuantum Record was created in collaboration with astrobiologist Sebastian Gfellner and drew conceptual inspiration from conversations with geologist Frances Westall.

The work imagines a speculative framework in which an artistic prototype—carrying biochemical material and a microbial “crew”—is launched into space to initiate a “molecular handshake” with its extra-terrestrial counterparts.

Two extremophilic archaea, Halobacterium salinarum and Metallosphaera sedula, are envisioned as astronauts for their resilience to withstand space analogue conditions

Scientific protocols such as cultivation, harvesting, and imaging are integral to shaping concepts and aesthetics.

At the heart of the project are a series of 3D-printed ceramic sculptures—arkships—designed as vessels for microbial life. Drawing from the panspermia hypothesis, meteorites are envisioned as geological vectors carrying microbial life, raw materials, and catalysts across cosmic distances seeding planetary environments.

The sculptures follow a dual logic: the meteorite, shaped by impact and deep time; and the vessel, intentionally crafted like the Voyager Golden Record. The tension between organic and engineered materials guided the design. 3D printing was chosen because of its capacity to bridge these realms, thus enabling complex organic forms with technological precision. Clay—ancient and future-bound—grounds the work materially; its natural shielding from space radiation aligns with its role in space technology while connecting to foundational theories on life’s emergence and evolution.

Two types of vessels were designed according to different cultivation protocols. This section focuses on the M. sedula vessel, designed for an organism known for its ability to metabolize iron- and sulfur-rich minerals. It has been cultivated on Martian analogs, such as JEZ-1 and ESA01-E, as well as pyrite, rutile, anatase, ilmenite, and titanium dioxide.

Following material logic, mineral powders and oxides of iron, manganese, vanadium, titanium, rutile, and ilmenite were selected for their geological and microbial relevance. These were not merely symbolic but also functional: the clay was infused, repeatedly washed, glazed with them, passed through fire multiple times, built up layers, and evoked geological strata.

In the final stage, a biopolymer containing a glucose substrate, a metabolic offering, and microbial samples were mutually embedded in the sculptures.

Microorganisms rest in a desiccated and dormant state as sleeping astronauts. Preserved for future reactivation, they embody latent vitality that is suspended between stasis and awakening.

What emerges is a hybrid artifact: geological body, engineered message, and speculative biological container.

Vessels are propositional objects that engage in astrobiological questions through tactile form and speculative design. Rather than illustrating science, they operate within sensual logic by inviting encounters through sensory intimacy and material presence.

A concise glossary accompanies the work by introducing terms such as archaea, panspermia, and regolith, providing accessible context and functioning as a non-didactic form of outreach that bridges aesthetic experience and scientific insight.

Finally, these arkships offer not an answer, but a question: what might we send and who might receive?