Glossary of Terms

(subjective + subject to constant revision)

Abundance

  1. More than enough; excess; exuberance
  2. A concept bound in a reciprocal relationship to generosity

Brine (See also: pickle; saline; saturation)

  1. A combination of salt and water which suspends decomposition of vegetable matter, imparts flavour, and alters the texture and quality of foods prior to consumption
  2. The sea: a primordial bath, the origin of all life
  3. Tears

Care

Co-evolution (See also: symbiosis; reciprocity)

  1. A coming-forth together: a history of mutual dependency, support, and exchange in which life-forms mutually determine each other’s patterns of life and evolution
  2. A network of relationships visualized as a temporal narrative
  3. For example, the story of my human body and the microscopic lifeforms within it
  4. For example, the relationship between humans and dogs, apples, wheat, etc.

Culture

  1. A term encompassing human artistic and intellectual achievements, as well as social behaviours, beliefs, and expectations specific to certain groups
  2. A specific community of bacteria and yeasts, transplanted into a certain medium to produce a certain material outcome (such as fermented tea or penicillin)
  3. A culture shapes its environment to produce more of the same
  4. What we choose to grow, tend, or cultivate

Dehydrate (See also: leather; mummification; drying; thirst; salt; heat)

  1. A subtraction of liquid which prevents encroaching decomposition, limiting the actions of time upon material
  2. A subtraction of liquid resulting in the ill health or death of a life form

Fermentation

  1. Chemical transformations of an organic substance caused by bacteria, yeasts, and microorganisms
  2. Effects include effervescence, heat, and transformation of sugars into alcohol
  3. A form of alchemy
  4. Metaphorically speaking, a state of agitation or excitement

Lactic acid (See also: respiration; stasis)

  1. An organic acid produced by bacteria in the genus Lactobacillus, which converts lactose and other simple sugars into lactic acid
  2. A living preservative which suspends matter within an anaerobic (airless) environment, prohibiting the growth of decomposing organisms
  3. A substance which builds up in muscles after extreme exertion, causing stiffness, soreness, or temporarily reducing mobility
  4. A substance, produced by limited or low oxygen in affected areas of the body

Homeostasis

  1. Being held in a position of internal stability, despite external changes.
  2. An interval or state of balance, within which conditions for certain forms of life remain possible.

Immanent Regulation

Pickle

  1. To preserve organic material by immersing it in a solution of vinegar and salt
  2. To temporarily slow or halt the progress of entropy within the limits of a confined space

Recipe (See also: score)

  1. A set of instructions for preparing food
  2. Circumstances which lead to a particular outcome

Reciprocity

  1. An exchange
  2. A mutual agreement or acknowledgement of equal or equivalent value(s)
  3. Compelled by loyalty, obligation, survival, generosity, practicality

Score

  1. Written instructions for an action
  2. A cut, incision, or carved groove
  3. Twenty (or colloquially, plenty)
  4. To achieve a point, goal, rating, or prize
  5. The current state of things

Symbiosis

  1. A mutually beneficial relationship between two or more organisms or groups
  2. May involve the division of labour and employ difference to the advantage of all
  3. Mutual aid
  4. For example, mycorrhizal networks between fungus and trees enable life-forms to transit chemical messages, distribute resources, and grow beyond inherent individual capacity
  5. Derived from Greek sumbiōsis (living together) and sumbiōs (companion)

Simultaneity

  1. A form of compression, bringing together things that space/time aim to keep separate
  2. Happening at the same time in different places

Stasis

  1. A period of inactivity, stillness, inertia
  2. Arrest of the normal flow of time, entropy,
  3. In the case of stored goods, existing in a container on a slower scale of time

Time Capsule

  1. A means of preserving time for the future
  2. A self-conscious form of nostalgia for future
  3. An update to the votive sacrificial offerings of our ancestors
  4. The desire for a life beyond one’s own time
  5. A belief in communication with the future
  6. For example, a pressure-sealed jar of jam; a dried leaf used as a bookmark; a packet of seeds; a voice mail, a letter, etc.