The Loop project is progressing well, with two visits to Dr Serge Mostowy’s lab at Imperial College London on 7 and 21 November, and good communication links have been established between Serge and myself.

During these visits Serge and the lab members showed me around the lab and gave an in depth introduction to the different (but inter-linked) research projects currently running. In the first visit I recorded an audio interview with Serge, where he outlined his research fully, and got to see the zebrafish tanks, microscopes and meet the lab team. In the second visit a set of zebrafish larvae had been prepared in different stages of development for me to draw. I also interviewed all the lab members and they did some descriptive sketches of the septin cage process. So far I have put together a sketchbook with drawings of the fish larvae, the septin cage process (from several different perspectives) and some storyboarding of the proposed septin cage dynamics. There is also a thumbnail animated test of the septin loop construction.

The next stage in pre-production will be to do more animated tests of the different elements of the project (the development of the host larvae, its response to the pathogens, the septin cage construction and decay) based on my sketches but also the sketches done by the lab team. It may also be beneficial for Serge to visit my studio at some future date.

Samantha Moore, December 2013