Microbial Topographies: The Brightness

“Curiosity could be a powerful distraction.” I underlined this phrase in Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, the first book in his Southern Reach series. The series is about an environmental contamination site along a coastline dubbed Area X. Annihilation is an account of a 4-party all female (XX) expedition into Area X. The party consists of a biologist, psychologist, surveyor, and an anthropologist. The story is told from the perspective of the biologist, and we see AreaX through her eyes.

I did not create the image with the book in mind, rather the incubated Petri dish exhibited the aesthetics in the book; mottled textures, blurring bioluminescence, octopus skin… is it a spill or bloom? Is it alive or is it still? The ghostly X only visible under UV light {{{{{made me think of the shifts in perspective [[[]]]]]] articulate here.

The bright purple pools align with the moniker “lavender lake,” a sweet phrase that conjures up smells of lilac, violet flavored candies, or soothing paint hues, but in reality is the handle for a superfund site in the Gowanus. trimmed southern reach topographical anomaly

“Microbial Topographies” open studio at Plexus Projects, August 28, 2026. Photo credit: Malik Rigabie