»Natural history of the enigma«
© Rik Sferra and Eduardo Kac; Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis, April 17 to June 21, 2009
Keywords
Information
Eduardo Kac >
»Natural history of the enigma«, 2003 - 2008
Co-Workers & Funding:
scientific partners Neil Olszewski, Department of Plant Biology and Neil Anderson, Department of Horticultural Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MNhttp://www.ekac.org/nat.hist.enig.html
Technology
Material
My IgG DNA is integrated into the chromosome of the Edunia. This means that every time that the Edunia is propagated through seeds my gene is present in the new flowers. See diagram here.The sculpture that is part of "Natural History of the Enigma", entitled "Singularis", is a three-dimensional fiberglass and metal form measuring 14'4" (height) x 20'4" (length) x 8' 5" (width.) It contrasts the minute scale of the molecular procedure with the larger-than-life structure. Likewise, the work pairs the ephemeral quality of the living organism with the permanence of the large sculpture. The sculpture is directly connected to the flower because its form is an enlargement of unique forms found inside this invented flower. In other words, the sculpture is derived from the molecular procedure employed to create the flower [5]. In its hybridity, the sculpture reveals the proximity of our next of kin in the kingdom Plantae.
I used 3D imaging and rapid-prototyping to visualize this fusion protein as a tangible form. I created the visual choreography of the sculpture based on the flower's molecular uniqueness. The sculpture was created with a vocabulary of organic twists and turns, helices, sheets and other three-dimensional features common to all life. The sculpture is blood red, in connection to the starting point of the work (my blood) and the veinal coloration of the Edunia.
Descriptions & Essays
The central work in the "Natural History of the Enigma" series is a plantimal, a new life form I created and that I call "Edunia", a genetically-engineered flower that is a hybrid of myself and Petunia. The Edunia expresses my DNA exclusively in its red veins.
"Natural History of the Enigma" is a reflection on the contiguity of life between different species. It uses the redness of blood and the redness of the plant's veins as a marker of our shared heritage in the wider spectrum of life. By combining human and plant DNA in a new flower, in a visually dramatic way (red expression of human DNA in the flower veins), I bring forth the realization of the contiguity of life between different species.
The sculpture that is part of "Natural History of the Enigma", entitled "Singularis", is a three-dimensional fiberglass and metal form measuring 14'4" (height) x 20'4" (length) x 8' 5" (width.) It contrasts the minute scale of the molecular procedure with the larger-than-life structure. Likewise, the work pairs the ephemeral quality of the living organism with the permanence of the large sculpture. The sculpture is directly connected to the flower because its form is an enlargement of unique forms found inside this invented flower. In other words, the sculpture is derived from the molecular procedure employed to create the flower .In its hybridity, the sculpture reveals the proximity of our next of kin in the kingdom Plantae.
In anticipation of a future in which Edunias can be distributed socially and planted everywhere, I created a set of six lithographs entitled "Edunia Seed Pack Studies". Visually resonant as they are with the flower and the work's theme, these images are meant to be used in the actual seed packs to be produced in the future. In my exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum, I exhibited a limited edition of Edunia seed packs containing actual Edunia seeds.
Literature
Kac, Eduardo. »Telepresence Art and Net Ecology.« In The Robot in the Garden: Telerobotics and Telepistemology on the Internet, edited by Ken Goldberg. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2000.
Kac, Eduardo and Marcel.li Antunez Roca. »Robotic Art.« Leonardo Electronic Almanac 5, no. 5 (May 1997).
Kac, Eduardo. »Interactive Art on the Internet.« In Ars Electronica 1995. Welcome to the Wired World, edited by Peter Weibel and Karl Gerber, 170-179. Wien, New York: Springer Verlag, 1995.
Kac, Eduardo. »Sur la notion d`art en tant que dialogue visuel.« In Art-Reseaux, edited by Karen O'Rourke, 20-23. Paris: Centres d`Etudes et de Recherches en Arts Plastique, Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, 1992.
Exhibitions & Events
2010
Exhibition :