Mute Track

'Mute Track' is a solo exhibition by artist Bianca Hlywa. The exhibition features an installation with a kinetically moving SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacterial Yeast). SCOBY slowly grows in layers on top of the fermenting health beverage Kombucha, eventually becoming a fleshy, beige, wet, pungent and thick microbial mat. Bianca's practice has focused on this material for the past nine years. “Mute Track”’s version has grown over the last six months. It weighs 110 kilos and is shaped like a triangle, 180 cm long and 120 cm at the widest point. The SCOBY is sewn to a webbing structure which is attached to a rotating motor supported by a modified scaffolding structure. The exhibition consists of a simple choreography. Starting from a resting position, the rotating motor gradually increases speed: the SCOBY goes from a slow circling to a faster movement that begins to stretch out its fleshy form. At 8 miles per hour, it appears to be flipping, from front to back. After stopping, the action begins again and is repeated on a loop during the exhibition. As the exhibition progresses, the materiality of the SCOBY will change. The constant movement will bring tears and over time the SCOBY will become more dry and leather-like. There is a tension between it’s organic, fragile body and the robust metal mechanism that threatens to rip the SCOBY apart.