The talk explores tea as a living nexus of ecological, political, and cultural entanglements. Through the lens of Kee Heung Chun Tea Company and kombucha SCOBY fermentation, artists examine vibrant materiality, multispecies kinship, and sensory memory. The five works trace tea’s cycles of transformation, inviting us to ‘stay with the trouble’ in more-than-human worlds.

Exploring Tea as a Living Network

 The SATA Mentor-Mentee Talk, moderated by researcher and curator Dr. Olga Timurgalieva, delved into the complex ecosystems of tea and kombucha SCOBY. The conversation framed tea not as an innocent product, but as a nexus of community building entwined with deep colonial histories and plantation labor. Mentor Liv introduced the bio art group’s collaborative research with the Kee Heung Chun Tea Company, detailing how the artists cultivated SCOBY to directly engage with the biological intelligence and vibrant materiality of these organisms.

Fermentation as Resistance and Living Data 

Through their respective artworks, Aaron and Tian explored the historical and personal dimensions of tea. Aaron’s installation combined kombucha fermentation with pressure controls and 3D printing, conceptualizing the mounting gas of fermentation as an invisible force of resistance against historical colonial systems. Conversely, Tian cultivated a SCOBY using tea from their hometown of Sichuan, utilizing their own physiological data to dictate the organism’s growing conditions. This project mapped ancient tea trade routes and evolved into a bidirectional, living diary between the artist and the biomaterial.

Tracing Invisible Memories and Non-Human Traces

Melody and Gabrielle shifted the focus toward the overlooked remnants and non-human actors within tea culture. Melody’s mixed-media work, “Concurrent Residue,” salvaged tea waste to extract memory-evoking scents and form 3D-printed and ceramic objects, highlighting the invisible domestic labor involved in tea drinking. Gabrielle’s “The Ink Pest” examined traces left by non-humans—specifically the insects causing sooty mold—by constructing a large, SCOBY-like shell out of sausage casing. The installation featured tea mist interacting with an iron sulfate solution to create ink, challenging human-centric definitions of pests and diseases.

Vibrations, Community, and Unpredictable Biomaterials

Anisa’s installation synthesized the behavior of SCOBY communities with sensory experiences, using a mechanically vibrating table to mimic the disturbance and nurturing qualities of unmaintained urban fountains. By observing how SCOBY must rebuild its structure when moved, Anisa drew parallels to how human societies react to external forces like weather. The panel concluded with a unified reflection on the unpredictability of bio art, noting that working with living matter requires artists to surrender absolute control and learn to co-create with the inherent agency of biological systems.