SALIVAM

2018-2025

Salivam was a 10-month collaborative research-creation project developed with Dr. Denis Groleau, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Microorganisms and Industrial Processes at Université de Sherbrooke, through the Art–Science Interface Residency program facilitated and generously funded by Sporobole centre en art actuel.

The laboratory work focused on bacterial culture, enzyme extraction, and collagen degradation to explore themes of intimacy, material transformation, and biotechnological production. Central to the project is a critical and humorous engagement with industrial biotech, particularly the cultural narratives surrounding anti-aging technologies. The resulting body of work was exhibited in an interactive solo exhibition at Sporobole in November 2018.

As part of the research, nonpathogenic strains of Bacillus cereus were isolated and purified from the artist’s saliva, and characterized through genomic sequencing. The microbes were found to produce potent collagen-degrading enzymes, which were extracted and filtered for use as both artistic medium and biotechnological agent. Scanning electron microscopy was conducted on collagen plate samples prepared by the artist, enabling visualization of B. cereus and its effects on the collagen substrate at the microscale (5 µm and below).

The project culminated in an interactive solo exhibition in which visitors were invited to produce their own bio-artworks by drawing on collagen substrates using the enzymes. The project also extended into an anti-aging skin cream, produced by the artist as a limited edition batch. Formulated using the extracted microbial enzymes, the cream incorporates anthocyanins from blue butterfly pea flower, giving it a clinical blue colour. A tester jar was made available within the exhibition, where visitors were invited to apply the cream to a series of cast collagen faces.

The cream is further explored in a set of twin performance videos, presented in the Ritual & Performance section, in which the artist conducts self-directed “clinical trials.” Positioned between satire and function, the work both critiques and inhabits the world of anti-aging biotechnology (also erroneously called "biohacking" by the wellness community). Through these participatory and performance gestures, Salivam collapses distinctions between laboratory, studio, and public/consumer space, exposing the material and cultural processes underlying biotechnological desire.

A later iteration of the project was developed in 2025 after WhiteFeather discovered that a skincare line advertising their products on social media was using an AI appropriation of her voice. As a result, she stole back her voice by hijacking the audio clip, and used it to create her own spoof skincare ad.

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Research blog available here: https://sporoboleair.wordpress.com/