SpiderFarm is a factory that reconstructs the environmental conditions of a spider’s natural habitat. Within the ‘farm’ the spiders spin silk for human use. The SpiderFarm is an open-ended project that intends to develop new materials and yet unrealized objects.
In the spider factory nature’s perfect balance is reproduced. At the same time the system is intended to evoke a strong awareness of nature’s vulnerability.
The factory mimics the natural setting in which spiders live in the wild, recreating the essential aspects that allow them to prosper. In this setting - a factory as an imitation of nature to facilitate the production of spiders - the animals are stimulated to produce silk for human use. Eventually the system might create a material, and objects, with an as yet unrealized potential.
July 14, 2012 at 12:53 AM
It has happened... Kraig Biocraft bioengineered silkworms to produce spidersilk. And the "factory" has been used for thousands of years. No "milking" of the spiders necessary.
July 14, 2012 at 1:39 AM
Check out KBLB!
They have solved the spider farm problem by creating transgenic silkworms that spin spider silk!