Waag has a biobank full to bursting with friendly, adorable micro-organisms. During the DDW 2015 and the Museum night 2015 in Amsterdam, their microbes were on sale for the first time. Bacteria, fungi, molds, yeasts, and algae. You could buy these tiny cuties as micropets and experience the fun reward of caring for these tiny creatures. Wake up every morning and be welcomed by the enthusiastic growth of your flock!

Learn how to take care of night-owl photobacteria, cool-cat spirulina, or fluffy fungi (the golden retriever of micropets)—and they’ll treat you well in return. Yes! It pays to invest in the relationships with your smallest friends. Get to know their strengths and make them work for you. Some of them might even eventually take care of you and protect you.

Pet Shop was not just a way to find reimbursement for costs. Waag strives to make biotechnology more accessible to society. Our lab is housed in the tower of one of Amsterdam's medieval buildings and is full of incubators, petri dishes, and microbes. In our Open Wetlab, we (along with artists, hackers, designers, activists and scientists) work to open up biotechnology.

Waag has been working to open up closed systems since 1994 with the advent of their “digital city” (the first public, social use of the internet in the Netherlands). Since then, the organisation has dedicated itself to a philosophy of opening up the black boxes of closed technology: software, hardware, and even methodologies.

Pet Shop was created by a team of makers from Waag after an original idea of María Boto Ordóñez. 

Project duration

1 Oct 2015 - 1 Dec 2016

Publications

Financiers

Partners

  • Museumnacht Amsterdam
  • Schatjes Gallery

Related articles

Past events

26
Nov
2016
15:00
17:00
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar: SOS plant care

24
Nov
2016
19:30
22:30
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar: (super)food cooking workshop

19
Nov
2016
15:00
17:00
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar Tour: catch your pets in the wild!

17
Nov
2016
19:30
22:30
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar workshop: hack your (super)food

16
Nov
2016
19:30
22:30
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar workshop: The Poop Doctor

3
Nov
2016
17:30
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Food Bar opening

16
Oct
2016
08:00
Open Wetlab

Cutting Edge Festival 2016

10
Aug
2016
18:30
21:30
Open Wetlab

Red Light Pet Shop City Tour: catch your pets in the wild!

5
Aug
2016
17:00
Open Wetlab

Pet Shop Microlympics started

3
Aug
2016
18:30
21:30
Open Wetlab

Red Light Pet Shop Workshop Superfoods

27
Jul
2016
18:30
21:30
Open Wetlab

Red Light Pet Shop Workshop home grown ink

24
Nov
2015
20:00
Open Wetlab

Future Series #5: What if

7
Nov
2015
19:30

Museum night 2015: Late night pet shop

16
Oct
2015
24
Oct
2015
Open Wetlab

Pet shop @ DDW 2015