Magnetite and human magnetoreception

Magnetite, or Fe3O4, or Mars Black, is a naturally occurring mineral belonging to the group of iron oxides that crystallizes into octahedral forms and has magnetic properties. Its large bodies create magnetic anomalies. In the cells of living organisms, magnetite crystallizes into necklace-like strings, and acts as a compass, helping to orientate the Earth's magnetic fields. This sense is popularly described in bird migration although it is present in many organisms, including bacteria, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, but also mammals such as whales, bats, cows, and even dogs that can be trained to find a hidden magnet. Human magnetoreception has long been viewed as esoteric, a mystical sixth sense, somewhat as telepathy. Studies were based on subject behavior, behavioristic. The recent discovery that cells are naturally crystalizing nanoparticles of a ferromagnetic mineral in the human brain and exploration of magnetotactic bacteria alignment to the Earth’s magnetic lines, made a breakthrough into the neurological level of scientific exploration.

I take this information as the starting point for my artistic experiments that are ongoing for the last four years. I am interested in the poetics of human magnetoreception as a sense that could be trained and regained. During this two-year research, I will visit the institutions and facilities related to magnetite, meet with specialists from various fields and try to understand the phenomenon from different angles. Everything will be documented and described in artistic poetic form of text with drawings. Experiments with materials will be performed, and instruments, works of art, and objects will be created. The whole collection will be presented both in a personal exhibition at the end of the project, in an open studio, and group exhibitions and lectures.

This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No. S-PD-22-45.