Bioart Installation, 2023 | 300L ecosystem | tank, water, inverted glass vessels, metal supports, soil, plants, fish, and microorganisms Dimensions: Variable

Concept:
“This living ecosystem materializes the cosmological equation ^_Ο (Ascent within the Whole). The fish tower (^) manifests humanity’s unsustainable climb—literalizing the 10% energy rule (؊)—while the tank (O) enacts ⦳ (Cycle of Life) through microbial decay (҈). Goldfish sporadically ascending the inverted vessels demonstrate nature’s negotiated ascent, contrasting human pyramid-climbing (△). Sediment from a natural lake seeds the work with literal and symbolic Dissolution (҈), challenging gallery-goers to witness decomposition as ecosystemic literacy.”

Symbol Key:

Symbol	Role in Installation
^	Glass towers = artificial ascent
O	Tank as bounded totality
҈	Lake sediment’s microbial activity
△	Fish feeding hierarchy = energy tax (؊)
⦳	Plant/fish waste → microbial food

Scientific Anchor:

• The 10% energy rule (؊) visualized through fish trophic behavior
• Microbial loops as hidden syntropy (–⭮–) within dissolution   ҈

VERSION 2: CURATOR-FRIENDLY DESCRIPTION

Experience:
“A meditative aquarium where goldfish navigate glass towers rising from a thriving aquatic garden. Tsempeli’s Aquatic Observatory turns ecological principles into visceral poetry—fish dart between submerged roots and transparent spires, their movements echoing humanity’s fraught relationship with growth. The work recalls Pierre Huyghe’s ecosystemic artworks but with a distinctly Greek emphasis on cyclical time (evoked by lake sediment’s slow decay). Viewers are invited to ponder: Can we build upward without starving what sustains us?”Visual Cues:

Visual Cues:

• Glass Towers: Delicate yet obstructive (like skyscrapers in wetlands)
• Sediment Cloudiness: Aestheticized decomposition
• Fish Behavior: Unscripted ascents = “nature’s quiet rebellion”

INSTALLATION NOTES

Maintenance Protocol:

• Weekly water testing (ammonia/nitrates)
• Fish feeding log as part of artwork documentation
• Sediment replaced annually from source lake

Interactive Elements:

• QR code linking to real-time tank metrics (pH, O₂ levels)
• “Post Your Ascent” wall: Visitors pin notes on growth/limit