This article is from Wikipedia.... I have been reading about bioluminescence and have often wanted to work with certain fungi for a project.

Bioluminescence is the production and emission of light by a living organism. Its name is a hybrid word, originating from the Greek bios for "living" and the Latin lumen "light". Bioluminescence is a naturally occurring form of chemiluminescence where energy is released by a chemical reaction in the form of light emission. Adenosine triphosphate(ATP) is involved in most instances. The chemical reaction can occur either inside or outside the cell. In bacteria, the expression of genes related to bioluminescence is controlled by an operon called the Lux operon. Bioluminescence has appeared independently several times (up to 30 or more)^[vague] throughout evolution.^[1]

Bioluminescence occurs in marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as microorganisms and terrestrial animals. Symbiotic organisms carried within larger organisms are also known to bioluminesce.

Attraction

Firefly larva

Bioluminescence is used as a lure to attract prey by several deep sea fish such as the anglerfish. A dangling appendage that extends from the head of the fish attracts small animals to within striking distance of the fish. Some fish, however, use a non-bioluminescent lure.

The cookiecutter shark uses bioluminescence for camouflage, but a small patch on its underbelly remains dark and appears as a small fish to large predatory fish like tuna and mackerel swimming beneath it. When these fish try to consume the "small fish", they are bitten by the shark, which gouges out small circular "cookie cutter" shaped chunks of flesh from its hosts.

Dinoflagellates have an interesting twist on this mechanism. When a predator of plankton is sensed through motion in the water, the dinoflagellate luminesces. This in turn attracts even larger predators which will consume the would-be predator of the dinoflagellate.

The attraction of mates is another proposed mechanism of bioluminescent action. This is seen actively in fireflies, which use periodic flashing in their abdomens to attract mates in the mating season. In the marine environment this has only been well-documented in certain small crustaceans called ostracod. It has been suggested that pheromones may be used for long-distance communication, and bioluminescence used at close range to "home in" on the target.

Repulsion

Certain squid and small crustaceans use bioluminescent chemical mixtures or bioluminescent bacterialslurries in the same way as many squid use ink. A cloud of luminescence is expelled, confusing or repelling a potential predator while the squid or crustacean escapes to safety. Every species of firefly has larvae that glow to repel predators.

Communication

Bioluminescence is thought to play a direct role in communication between bacteria (see quorum sensing). It promotes the symbiotic induction of bacteria into host species, and may play a role in colony aggregation.

Illumination

While most marine bioluminescence is green to blue, the Black Dragonfish produces a red glow. This adaptation allows the fish to see red-pigmented prey, which are normally invisible in the deep ocean environment where red light has been filtered out by the water column.^[4]

The end of an old year in favor of a new year... has me thinking of the cycles of life, change, resolutions, and inevitable consequences. I will be exhibiting an installation called "Contained Garden" at the end of Jan for a group show called "Lumen" put on by Asha Ganpat. The artwork will be presented in a dark gallery space and the only light will come from the artwork which will all be self-illuminated.

Here is my artist statement for the piece:

Contained Garden is a terrarium installation that includes living plants, dirt, vines, dried spines, human spinal column and human calvarian cut skull.  The installation is illuminated with grow lights from above and lights placed within the terrarium. The effect is an overgrown surreal landscape reflecting the beauty and abjectness of nature. The skull and spine are overtaken by grasses and vines as life overtakes death in an endless cycle of mortality. Vines and roots spill out of the terrarium, seemingly growing from below the wrought iron stand, as if nature cannot be contained, even in art. The soft subtle sounds of the woods at night emerge from the terrarium beckoning the viewer to come closer.

In my wanderings over the internet I came across a site of quotes regarding nature:
www.spaceandmotion.com Quotes
"Deep Ecology is concerned with the Metaphysics of Nature, and of the relation of the Self to Nature. It sets up ecology as a model for the basic metaphysical structure of the world, seeing the identities of all things- whether at the level of elementary particles, organisms, or galaxies- as logically interconnected: all things are constituted by their relations with other things ... Applying this principle of interconnectedness to the human case, it becomes apparent that the individual denoted by “I” is not constituted merely by a body or a personal ego or consciousness. I am, of course, partially constituted by these immediate physical and mental structures, but I am also constituted by my ecological relations with the elements of my environment- relations in the image of which the structures of my body and consciousness are built. I am a holistic element of my native ecosystem, and of any wider wholes under which that ecosystem is subsumed ... From the point of view of deep ecology, what is wrong with our culture is that it offers us an inaccurate conception of the self. It depicts the personal self as existing in competition with and in opposition to nature [We fail to realise that] if we destroy our environment, we are destroying what is in fact our larger self." (Freya Matthew) (Fox, 1995)
"I believe in God, only I spell it Nature. " (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1869 - 1959)