Microlandscapes

Megan Zimroth

Microlandscapes

Associazione Kin

AWARD AMOUNT

3000 USD

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KIN is an interdisciplinary laboratory recently opened in the San Siro neighbourhood in Milan (Italy) in a public building alongside other local associations. Kin’s experimental approach actively engages people in generating knowledge about their living conditions and offers innovative participation processes. Microlandscapes as a 4-day event starting on October 29th, 2022 part of a larger mission known as Our Body, Our Tech (OBOT).

Microlandscapes engaged citizens of the neighbourhood to discover open hardware and science with the support of foreign mentors from a wet lab outside Italy. The event implemented a citizen science approach in the investigation of the female body, specifically tears. The workshop then used different types of microscopes (DIY and professional), 3D printing and laser cutters to manufacture open-hardware adaptors to attach a mobile phone to the microscopes. Findings were then prepared and presented to audiences through multimedia formats. 

The event was hosted in the San Siro neighbourhood in Milan (Italy), inside one of the largest public housing areas of the city with a migrant population twice the Milano average. As a project meant for the community, Microlandscapes actively included Italians, migrants and sexual minorities in our event through a citizen-based approach to provide space for listening, research and expression. The organisers viewed the focus on science and open hardware as the starting point to spark interest in topics which are not covered in secondary education.

The main event used two light-field microscopes to explore samples from body fluids and also from the puddles in the neighbourhood. Microscopes were equipped with an open hardware 3D-printed holder for mobile phones which were downloaded, customized and printed during warm-up events. The organizers also laser cut and 3D printed some dark field patches. These digital fabrication activities were organized especially to engage teenagers from the neighbourhood (>18 years) in using laser cutting and 3D printers also for open science. Documentation, photos and digital books (including a zine) were all made and are available for all to use and see. 

Since the event, Kin evolved the Microlandscapes format into “Perturbant Fluids”, a workshop with toured different cities in Switzerland during 2023 as part of the SPEARHEAD “Swiss Pandemic & AMR – Health Economy Awareness Detect” programme and specifically MAKEAWARE! A campaign and a workshop series to create awareness and engage citizens on antimicrobial resistance and antibiotic consumption.

Key Outputs

Reference Number: RF-204

Documentation

Event Media

  • Neighbourhood’s sample
  • Microscapes working table and presentation
  • Participants discovering microscopes
  • A4 posters with main concepts and illustrations from history of microscopy
  • A4 posters with main concepts and illustrations from history of microscopy
  • Digital fabrication’s learning sessions for open hardware
  • Detail of 3d printed mobile holder
  • Participant’s saliva sample

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