The jacquard woven fabric, “Kangas”, is a collage by Heidi Pietarinen, Noora Sandgren, Melissa Grant, and Anne Yoncha.

The work literally stitches together images from drawings, photographs, and microscopic slides, culminating in a digital jacquard weaving.

Our group was interested in the Finnish idea of “kangas” – a word which translates to both “fabric” and “forest type” – and the way it describes the intricate enmeshment of species (both human and non-human, aerial and terrestrial) in our exploration of “the Heavens”.

After collecting and identifying our microbial collaborators in Kilpisjärvi, this piece is an attempt to come closer, understand, get in touch, and get to know materialities other than humans. We asked: who are these microbes, what are their abilities, what are the bridges between us? How did a bacterium first isolated in Antarctica make its way to the air above the Arctic circle? Is the microbe widespread, or did it travel this distance?