MR. BIG


Live-streamed growth screenshots from July 10 and August 8, 2022
MR. BIG was a durational exhibition and performance made in collaboration with Verticale artist-run center in Laval, Quebec during the summer of 2021. The exhibition involved growing a large-scale SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacterial Yeast) over the course of a month and a half in the center's storage unit.
At the end of the growth period, a performance included the following:
1. A talk about the biological composition of the bacterial culture (featuring Dr. Abdulhameed Saleh Hussein Al Ghabkari)
2. Emptying the tank and moving the SCOBY to the car
3. Transporting the SCOBY to Bizard Island (where classical music was played to the SCOBY, as shown in the interlude video below)
4. Feeding the SCOBY to a flock of mature chickens.
All events were live-streamed. MR.BIG was not entirely consumed by the chickens, so it was processed with a lawnmower, following the recommendation of experimental farm consultant Benoit Girard (AgroNova).
Special thanks to Verticale, Bronson Smillie, Pascale Theoret-Groulx, Benoit Girard, Miron and Andrea Hlywa, Gerard Ortín Castellví, Alexis Bellavance and to Dr. Abdulhameed Saleh Hussein Al Ghabkari.
Part 1, Excerpt of GoPro live streamed footage from performance





Part 2, Excerpt of GoPro livestreamed footage from performance, driving to Bizard island with Baroque music


Part 3, Excerpt of GoPro livestreamed footage from performance, chickens eating SCOBY


Part 4, Excerpt of footage from lawnmower destruction
Photos thanks to Alexis Bellavance