Introduction
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Mysteries of the Oganism was originally exhibited at the Espacio Gallery in Shoreditch between 7th and 12th March 2013.
This is the on-line version of the exhibition. The exhibition celebrates scientific insights into the hidden patterns and features of the natural world while questioning the technical and methodological artifice that brings them to our perception. There are 5 installations: A trillion superheroes Replicant Nine heads roulette Gelforms and Bioglyphs Shieldworks Enjoy!! and let me know what you think. |
A trillion superheroes
This installation recreates the dark spaces inside the tiniest of our capillaries. It is inhabited by an entire ecology of cells
fine-tuned to their tasks and to each other. Microphages sample for antigens on the skin of harmful bacteria, and when found bring them to the attention of Helper T cells, which release hormones to help B cells change to hunter and killer cells, which then attack the bacteria. Another group of cells are created to hold a memory of the bacteria in case of re-exposure to
infection. Joy and wonder inspired his work, at our capacity to understand our world in such granular detail. It is truth as revealed by the stern gaze of science and recreated as space opera.
Replicant
This installation explores an imagined territory in an impossible space: the moment when an HIV virus invades a cell, and hijacks it to serve its own interests. It is a scene deciphered by science and presented as metaphor. An HIV is about 0.0001mm in size, equipped with just two copies of the recipe to make itself and three micro-machines (enzymes) to help it to do this. As for the rest, it takes all it needs from the cell it has invaded. What we see here is “smart” matter, sparsely distributed in space, yet honed to perfection in its functionality. Each micro-machine is single macromolecule- so small that its shape determines its function. Ordinary light cannot reach it or bring it to our attention. We can only know it through the shadows it casts on our laboratory screens.
Nine heads roulette
Each head alludes to one of the indices that were used in C19th Europe and America to place human beings on an evolutionary scale based on the shape of the head or features of the brain. A focus on surface differences led to a blindness towards the deeper unity - that all human beings are taken from the same mould. The value placed on human beings became a game of chance. Each person’s place on the evolutionary ladder depended on the race, gender, constitution and class into which they were born. With the distance of time it’s tempting to dismiss this kind of thinking as special pleading by a particular dominant group to justify its position as lords of creation, meriting special privileges. But these people were also some of
the best scientists of their age, priding themselves on their objectivity. And such ideas, particularly in relation to mental
abilities, are still around.
the best scientists of their age, priding themselves on their objectivity. And such ideas, particularly in relation to mental
abilities, are still around.
Gelforms and Bioglyphs
Inspired by botanical forms and the miniscule structures as seen through an electron microscope and by the language of
genomics, this series is an attempt to visualise the relationship between nature and science. Sometimes the sculptures are encountered as interventions in a landscape.
genomics, this series is an attempt to visualise the relationship between nature and science. Sometimes the sculptures are encountered as interventions in a landscape.
Shieldworks
These compositions are made by creating a single irregular “tile”, casting multiples of it, then interlocking and fusing the multiples to create distinct shapes. Each composition looks different from the others but is formed by the same rule being applied to a single shape. The variation in surface pattern is a combination of chance and design. Distinguishing which traces are meaningful and which are not goes to the heart of science. The human propensity to find meaningful patterns in the world (whether or not they actually exist) and the tremulous boundary between truth and self delusion is a challenge in a universe where there is no final authority of appeal.