Canvassing in Biodesign

What is a Canvas?

In art, a canvas refers to a surface made from a tightly woven fabric (usually stretched over a wooden frame), which artists use as a base for their artwork. It essentially serves as a platform upon which the artist’s work can be displayed.

In this article, we use the term canvas as a metaphor to describe any surface (and supporting) material that becomes a part of a display in biodesign. Similarly, we describe the verb Canvassing as a way of providing a surface (and support) upon which biodesign outcomes can be displayed. 

Impact of Canvas Quality on Displays

While seemingly mundane and humble, the canvas plays a significant role in the creative process, and the final outcome of an artwork or design. There are plenty of examples from the past and the present that demonstrate its influence.

Canvas Texture

Changing the texture of the canvas or the painting surface can shift the style and character of a painting.² Smooth surfaces - such as hot press paper - allow for precision, making them ideal for works that require fine details and straight lines. Artists who work in smaller spaces or focus on intricate detail often prefer smooth textures because rougher surfaces would interfere with their ability to create clean, controlled strokes.

On the other hand, surfaces with rougher textures - such as Senso linen and cold press paper - can add depth and energy to a painting, enhancing the overall expression by affecting the way paint interacts with the surface.

In short, the choice of surface can define not just the technical aspects of a painting but also its style and the resulting emotional impact for the viewers.

Now, imagine if the paint itself were alive—in the form of bacteria. Below, you'll see a video clip featuring non-human, bacterial "artists" called Bacillus subtilis. These bacteria grow and swim in large groups, "painting" the canvas they inhabit with colorful, transient patterns and traces.

In this case, the surface properties of the canvas, on which the microbial colonies swam, played a crucial role in enabling the formation of these patterns.

In laboratories, these canvases are typically agar-based gels, which provide moisture and nutrients. The density of the gel, ranging from high to low, influences the movement of the bacteria.

A low-density gel allows for more bacterial movement, resulting in fluid-like patterns, whereas a high-density gel slows or halts their motion, producing more static and gradually changing visual displays.

In biodesign, these gels often serve as the canvas, and just like in traditional painting, adjusting the texture of the agar—whether by stiffening or loosening—affects the "painting" style created by the bacteria.

The example above further illustrates how canvas texture can influence microbial displays. The images show how variations in the density of the agarose gel, on which yeast cells were bioprinted, affected the resolution of their growth patterns.

A higher-density agarose canvas produced sharper, more defined patterns, while a lower-density canvas resulted in blurrier patterns, with other microbial species overtaking the yeast cells.

Canvas Shape

Shape of canvas matters too. The use of irregular and unconventionally shaped canvases for example had an impact on how the viewer experiences the artwork. It challenges the traditional rectangular format that has dominated painting.

In the 1960s, artists like Frank Stella, Sven Lukin, and Charles Hinman pushed the boundaries of what a painting could be by incorporating non-rectangular shapes into their canvases³ .

This movement moved painting beyond mimicking the viewer's field of vision, incorporating elements of sculpture and architecture into the art form. Shaped canvases allow for a deeper connection between the artwork’s internal structure and its outer form, creating a dynamic interaction with space and colour.

Thinking Outside of Petri Dishes in Biodesign

Biodesigners are intimately familiar with the iconic round petri dish, a staple in laboratories for observing and isolating microbial colonies. Its circular shape is not just aesthetic but highly functional—efficient for even distribution of colonies, easier to stack and store, and practical for standard lab workflows.

However, biodesigners are not constrained by these scientific objectives. For them, the shape of a container is just as much a creative canvas as it is a tool for observation. A circular dish may serve scientific needs, but the design outcomes in biodesign often call for different forms that spark new possibilities and connections.

For example, introducing corners into petri dish design can lead to fascinating visual and biological outcomes, such as microbial growth patterns that concentrate in the corners, potentially forming natural bridges between colonies from other culture dishes and containers.

This non-standard shape invites new types of interaction and connection between the organisms, offering a fresh perspective on how life can be structured and organized.

In this way, biodesigners not only work at the intersection of biology and design but also push the boundaries of what both disciplines can achieve by simply rethinking something as basic as a petri dish.

Canvas Material

The choice of material in design fundamentally shapes how an object is perceived and interacted with, influencing both its aesthetic impact and the meaning it conveys to users.

Apple iPhone – The Use of Glass and Aluminum in the Display Surface

Apple’s decision to use high-quality, edge-to-edge glass framed by aluminum for the iPhone’s display surface revolutionized smartphone design. The smooth, reflective glass provided high visual clarity and enhanced interactivity, while the aluminum body lent the device a sleek, premium look.

This minimalist approach not only set a trend for tech aesthetics but also changed how users physically interacted with the product. Had Apple chosen a different material, such as plastic, the product would have communicated less refinement and durability.

Biodesign Examples

In biodesign, most canvas materials have been those that are widely used in scientific research. These included transparent plastic and glassware such as culture dishes and conical flasks, and semi-solid growth platforms such as agar.

However, we highlight below some of the unconventional materials that we found to have been used, to inspire designers to consider alternative materials for designing, and to help them strategize ways of tuning their displays. These artefacts opted for non-transparent materials such as wood.

Furthermore, ancillary materials that extend from the canvas, such as computer hardware, tubing, and metal-glass combinations, have been implemented to artefact how users would perceive and engage with microbial displays.

Designers of these artefacts explained how using traditional materials and applying craftsmanship to its construction, had brought an extra layer of cultural meaning to the final design, elevating the status of inhabiting microbes to a higher level, encouraging their appreciation and care.

Closed / Open Canvases

In biodesign, most of the canvassing process involved some form of containment (e.g., a Petri dish) as a way to isolate the microorganism, and to create a sealed border between the organism and the outer environment.

That said, however, canvases that are less sealed, with a relatively more open and bio-receptive set-up, have also been implemented in biodesign with interesting results, highlighting further design opportunities for the community.

Ofer et al.’s explorations with Dinofagellates under semi-open and porous environments for example, demonstrated how shifting the aperture and receptivity of the canvas, had offered diverse ways with which the algae displayed its livingness in the form of bioluminescent patterns⁸ .

Similarly, Kim et al.⁹ have reported how an accidental relaxing of containment during a biotic game Mould Rush had introduced airborne contaminants to overtake the microbial display, producing unintended yet arresting alterations to the game mechanics.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the choice of canvas in biodesign is far more than just a passive backdrop—it plays an active role in shaping both the process and the final outcome. Whether it's the texture, shape, or material, each element of the canvas influences how microbial life interacts with the surface, creating unique visual and functional outcomes.

From using traditional Petri dishes to exploring unconventional materials like wood or silicone, biodesigners have a vast range of possibilities to experiment with. By rethinking the "canvas" in creative and thoughtful ways, designers can push the boundaries of both art and science, inviting new forms of interaction, expression, and discovery in living systems.

As the field of biodesign continues to evolve, the canvases we choose will remain a vital part of crafting innovative and meaningful bio-integrated experiences.

Unlock the Full Potential of Canvassing Strategy in Your Biodesign

Are you ready to implement the Canvassing strategy and its levels in your design or biodesign project? Whether you're working with specific organisms or exploring new possibilities, this approach offers countless opportunities to create designs that are both noticeable and impactful. Get in touch, via [email protected], and we can provide consultation and the necessary tools to help you unlock the full potential of this strategy.

1  Kim, R., Risseeuw, C., Groutars, E. G., & Karana, E. (2023). Surfacing livingness in microbial displays: A design taxonomy for HCI. In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-21).

2  https://mitchalbala.com/how-texture-of-painting-surface-affects-painterly-style/

3  https://www.dwigmore.com/recent-exhibitions/2019-102-27#essay

4  Chen, D., Seong, Y. A., Ogura, H., Mitani, Y., Sekiya, N., & Moriya, K. (2021). Nukabot: Design of care for human-microbe relationships. In Extended abstracts of the 2021 CHI conference on human factors in computing Systems (pp. 1-7).

5  Boer, L., Bewley, H., Jenkins, T., Homewood, S., Almeida, T., & Vallgårda, A. (2020). Gut-tracking as cultivation. In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 561-574).

6  https://michaelsedbon.com/CMD

7  https://matthijsmunnik.nl/works/installation/microscopicopera/

8  Ofer, N., Bell, F., & Alistar, M. (2021). Designing direct interactions with bioluminescent algae. In Proceedings of the 2021 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (pp. 1230-1241)

9  Kim, R., Thomas, S., Van Dierendonck, R., & Poslad, S. (2018, August). A new mould rush: designing for a slow bio-digital game driven by living micro-organisms. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (pp. 1-9).