The Algae Society Bio Art & Design Lab

In a dim gallery, a tall lightbox glows with blue cyanotypes of pressed seaweed, white fronds on cyan, while a child bends to peer into a low shelf of books beneath a screen and a cluster of small wooden boxes.
Two children rest their hands on glowing, shell-studded domes on a round wooden table, as carved wooden forms crusted with shells drift overhead and hang on the wall like sea creatures.
A green, algae-like figure in glasses rises from blue water against black. A comic speech bubble reads: I HAVE to be doing all of this for a REASON. I HAVE to truly believe that this is for the best interest of our people. A red tag in the corner reads JOIN THE REVOLUTION.
Pressed red, green and brown seaweeds dot a white wall above a microscope station, its screen filled with a magnified tangle of golden kelp fronds; a sign invites visitors to observe marine algae under the microscope.
A yellow sign shows the silhouette of a person exhaling a stream of dots above a dark band of microscopic algae: MOST OF THE OXYGEN YOU BREATHE COMES FROM ALGAE.
Two dark, sculpted stones crusted with bright yellow and coral-red growths, like lichen blooming across rock.
A woman in a mustard cardigan and face mask leans close to peer into the lens of a wooden hexagonal box on a gallery wall, blue light washing the window behind her.
Wooden hexagonal light boxes zigzag across a white wall, each glowing a different shade of blue, teal or rose, with a small viewing lens at its center.
Name
The Algae Society Bio Art & Design Lab
Description
An international, transdisciplinary collective of artists, scientists, designers, and scholars that invites the public to engage with algae, from the microscopic to the planetary scale. Launched in 2018, the lab approaches algae as companion species, vital to climate resilience and atmospheric balance, and works through artworks, workshops, writing, and exhibitions that cultivate multispecies kinship. Most of its founding members were UC Santa Cruz graduate students who worked with Jennifer Parker in the OpenLab Collaborative Research Center. More than 100 artists, scientists, and scholars on three continents have taken part, with core members at UC Santa Cruz, the University of North Carolina Wilmington, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Reed College, RMIT University, the University of the Sunshine Coast, and the University of Gothenburg. Exhibitions include CONFLUENCE: Experimentation | Installation | Collaboration at the Cameron Art Museum in Wilmington, North Carolina (2022), with further projects at the MOXI Museum in Santa Barbara and the Madrid Planetarium.
Type
en Research Group
en Collective
en Academic Program
Founded
2018-2025
Founder
Jennifer Parker
Gene Felice II
José-Carlos Espinel
Juniper Harrower
David Harris
Contributors
Fiona Hillary
Nadjejda Espinel-Velasco
All contributing artists, by exhibition
Affiliation
UC Santa Cruz
University of North Carolina Wilmington
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
Climate & Ecology Themes
Oceans and Coasts
Adaptation and Resilience
Air and Atmosphere
Concepts
More-than-Human Relations
Care and Reciprocity
Ecological Domain / Habitat
Coastal Beach
Coastal Wetlands / Salt Marsh
Kelp Forest
Open Ocean
Tide Pools
Methods & Approaches
Art and Science Collaboration
Public Programming
Education and Pedagogy
Discipline / Field
Arts & Design
Natural Sciences
Interdisciplinary
Audience / Engagement
Public / General Audience
Academic / Research
Geographic Scope
International / Global
Location
Initiated at UC Santa Cruz, California
Website
https://algaesociety.org/
Current Status
Inactive
Item sets
California Art & Climate Archive
UC Santa Cruz
Media
In a dim gallery, a tall lightbox glows with blue cyanotypes of pressed seaweed, white fronds on cyan, while a child bends to peer into a low shelf of books beneath a screen and a cluster of small wooden boxes.Gene A. Felice II, José-Carlos Espinel and Jennifer Parker, Cabinet of Curiosity
Two children rest their hands on glowing, shell-studded domes on a round wooden table, as carved wooden forms crusted with shells drift overhead and hang on the wall like sea creatures.Gene A. Felice II and Jennifer Parker, Oceanic Scales
A green, algae-like figure in glasses rises from blue water against black. A comic speech bubble reads: I HAVE to be doing all of this for a REASON. I HAVE to truly believe that this is for the best interest of our people. A red tag in the corner reads JOIN THE REVOLUTION.Ceres Madoo, Carbon Eater: Bert’s Biosynthesis
Pressed red, green and brown seaweeds dot a white wall above a microscope station, its screen filled with a magnified tangle of golden kelp fronds; a sign invites visitors to observe marine algae under the microscope.Jennifer Parker, Getting to Know Algae
A yellow sign shows the silhouette of a person exhaling a stream of dots above a dark band of microscopic algae: MOST OF THE OXYGEN YOU BREATHE COMES FROM ALGAE.Ken Rinaldo, Algae Sign
Two dark, sculpted stones crusted with bright yellow and coral-red growths, like lichen blooming across rock.Juniper Harrower, Hidden Desert Algae
A woman in a mustard cardigan and face mask leans close to peer into the lens of a wooden hexagonal box on a gallery wall, blue light washing the window behind her.Gene A. Felice II, Algae Wall Cells 1
Wooden hexagonal light boxes zigzag across a white wall, each glowing a different shade of blue, teal or rose, with a small viewing lens at its center.Gene A. Felice II, Algae Wall Cells 2