Jenna Sutela. nimiia cétiï | Art City 2026 Special Project

From 5 to 8 February 2026, as part of Art City 2026, the Educational Laboratory of the Navile District in Bologna hosts nimiia cétiï, a project by Jeanna Sutela.

The works of Jenna Sutela explore open systems, from biology to computer science, in order to probe the relationship between consciousness and the physical world. By activating exchanges between organic and technological agents such as bacteria and computers, the artist traces patterns, signs, and meanings in what may appear random or chaotic. Sutela initiates processes involving more-than-human forms of intelligence to reveal their specific ways of organizing, interacting, and communicating on microbial and cosmic scales.

The video nimiia cétiï documents the activity of a computer observing microscopic footage of extremophile bacteria. By interpreting the movements of Bacillus subtilis, the computer generates a script that resembles an indecipherable calligraphy.

A neural network programmed with the artist’s voice examines each frame and associates it with a short
sound segment, generating an audio track that echoes the recording of an ancient Martian language. This linguistic system draws inspiration from the séances of the French-speaking Swiss medium Hélène Smith, who toward the end of the nineteenth century claimed to be able to communicate with Martians.

By vocalizing syllables resembling words but devoid of comprehensible meaning and displaying texts written in a sinuous, unreadable alphabet, Smith is described as one of the first documented cases of glossolalia, that is, the ability to speak in mysterious languages. In this work, the intelligent machine is represented as a medium that intercepts and conveys the language of bacteria during a spirit séance.

Extremophile bacteria can today be considered the beings closest to Martians, since recent spaceflight experiments suggest that they may be able to survive on the Red Planet.

According to the theory of Panspermia, moreover, life is present throughout the universe and is spread by
microorganisms such as Bacillus subtilis, which carry it across space by means of celestial bodies and spacecraft. These “aliens” also inhabit the human gut and contribute to our health and well-being, even influencing our thoughts and emotions.

One might almost say that they make us who we are and that they speak through us. By drawing on various
scientific disciplines and theoretical speculations, nimiia cétiï connects seemingly distant worlds and showcases the forms of embodied knowledge belonging to all the actors involved in the process.

In Bologna, the work is presented within an immersive environment that evokes the presence of other forms of intelligence, perhaps extraterrestrial. It is as if Martian bacteria had manipulated the technical circuits of the educational laboratory in an attempt to establish a channel of contact with us.