A collaborative project by Marta Font and Xisco Bonnín

Scientist Lynn Margulis (USA, 1938–2011) revolutionized the foundations of contemporary biology through studies and theories that identified symbiosis as the primary mechanism underlying the origin and evolution of life on Earth.

Her endosymbiotic theory proposed a new narrative in which eukaryotic cells—cells with a nucleus, from which all fungi, plants, and animals derive—emerged through the symbiotic fusion of primitive bacteria that had previously existed independently. At the same time, her theory of symbiogenesis suggested that most plant and animal organisms, long considered autonomous individuals, are in fact communities of simpler organisms cooperating to survive.

Margulis and other late twentieth-century biologists provided evidence showing that cooperation, rather than competition or predation, is the most common interaction among living beings. Symbiosis thus becomes a central driver of evolutionary change, offering an alternative vision of evolution itself.

Beyond transforming our understanding of evolutionary history, these scientific contributions challenge fundamental concepts such as individuality and species boundaries. They have profoundly influenced contemporary thought, shifting it from a limiting anthropocentrism toward a more open biocentric perspective, in which life on Earth is understood as an interconnected and interdependent whole: a dense web of relationships, exchanges, and mutual dependencies.

These bold, creative, and visionary scientific approaches invite us once again to marvel at, investigate, and rediscover the natural world as an almost infinite universe—abundant, complex, and far richer than previously imagined.

This biocentric turn has inspired the development of posthumanist and ecological philosophies that advocate for the recognition of interspecies relationships and a responsible coexistence with all living organisms sharing the planet. It is a shift that permeates contemporary culture, literature, and visual arts, demonstrating the narrative, symbolic, and transformative power of scientific knowledge.

Observation and direct engagement with nature have shaped and sustained this project: walking through forests, skirting ponds, wandering wetlands, traversing rocky paths and mountains, or meandering through cultivated landscapes. The Serra de Tramuntana, where forests, valleys, and peaks converge alongside rural environments shaped by a long-standing balance between human activity and nature, has served as both a site of research and experimentation.

Microbial mats, climbing plants, fungi, slime molds, and lichens; symbionts, holobionts, mycobionts, phycobionts, mycelia, rhizomes, and mycorrhizae—these fascinating organisms reveal the extraordinary complexity of life. Lichens, in particular, represent symbiosis taken to its furthest expression. Formed through the association of a fungus with an alga or cyanobacterium, they are miniature ecosystems capable of hosting multiple species. The fungus provides structure, protection, minerals, and moisture retention, while the alga or cyanobacterium supplies nutrients through photosynthesis. Their forms, colors, and textures are uniquely diverse; they thrive in extreme climates and colonize rocks, bark, concrete walls, industrial surfaces, and even radioactive environments. They emerge as harmonious, strange, resilient, and remarkably beautiful forms of life.

This symbiotic interaction is translated into artistic practice. Disciplines such as ceramics, embroidery, collage, and performative action collaborate, merge, and intertwine with photography to create hybrid works of dual nature.

Hand-modeled ceramic pieces made from Mallorcan clays sourced from the Serra de Tramuntana and Es Pla are embedded with photographic images and fired in the kiln. Silk fabrics printed with photographic images using mineral-based natural inks are embroidered with cotton thread. Photographs printed on cotton paper are transformed through perforation and collage.

Symbiosis also extends to the artistic process itself. A couple in life chooses to develop a shared artistic project as both challenge and experiment, one that inevitably questions the very nature of collaboration.

Symbiotic relationships may be mutualistic, commensal, or parasitic. Who benefits most? One partner, both participants, or the project itself? Might there also be losses? The aspiration is a positive interaction that nourishes itself and continues to grow. The outcome becomes more than the sum of its parts: it is demonstrably greater and enables those who collaborate to evolve together.

Symbiosis as a way of life. In contrast to competition, predation, and the increasingly aggressive attitudes that seem once again to dominate contemporary society, this project embraces a paradigm grounded in coexistence, shared responsibility, trust, and cooperation as the only meaningful guarantee for the future.