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Porous Kinships

Exhibition

Porous Kinships

June 14, 2023

Location: SVA Fine Arts Building
Opening reception: Wednesday, June 14, 2023. 6-8pm

Artists

Maloles Antignac, Anonda Bell, Sebastian Garcia-Medina, Skye (Xinyi) Gao, Willow Gatewood, Trisha Gupta, Belen Jaramillo, Asad Khan, Angela Link, Emily Moon, Geraldine Ondrizek, Selena Pacheco, Beryl Rappaport, Romilly Rinck, Diana Sanchez, SublteFlux | Shae Nadine, Patrick Stochmal, Sangwoo Yoo, Koko Zhang

An image printed faintly on a green, fibrous, paper-like material mounted on a white wall.

The works produced in the Bio Art Summer Residency (2023)  explored such topics as ecosystems, microbes, mycelium, algae, insects, bio-plastics, environmental waste, and bio-sensors in conjunction with their philosophical components. The projects culminated in a final exhibition entitled “Porous Kinships.”

Anonda Bell (Australia/USA) creates interdisciplinary work addressing the environment and its allied fields. In this work she imagines a future world where insects are the most prevalent and powerful species on this planet.  How would humans exist in these conditions, as subordinate to another species? Angela Link (USA) examines the enmeshment between our biological surroundings and cultural history, drawing from her background in anthropology. Her mixed media installation investigates what it means to participate in a life cycle built on death and decay. In an interactive installation, Willow Gatewood uses sound, images, and text to explore how our bodies are in constant communication with the surrounding world via microbes and other organisms. Through the use of biosensors, visitors collaborate with plants and fungi to generate a sonic environment. Beryl Rappaport (USA) uses glass to depict microbial forms in their beauty, threat, and nostalgia. Her installation pays tribute to gnotobiotic mice, exploring the role of microbial communities inside and outside of us. Sebastian Garcia-Medina (Colombia), as a scientist, explores biological resilience and physical interconnectedness through the interplay of metabolic networks shared among species. He experiments with bacterial manufacturing as an effort to rejoin human industrial manufacturing with ecosystemic balance.  Maloles Antignac questions the deconstruction of boundaries between the natural and the artificial. She uses earth in combination with organic materials derived from scientific research to reveal how human, non-human and technology interact together. Gerri Ondrizek’s work investigates embryonic and genetic development. Using a compound microscope, she photographed germinating seeds to observe their epithelial cell tissues in embryonic development, which she recorded as being similar to human development. Patrick Stochmal (Toronto, Canada) employs queerness as a tool to explore ideas of kinship that are unbounded by enclosed, species-specific genealogies. He questions intimacy with more-than-human agents alongside an interrogation of hegemonic structures that delimit normative being and kinship. Romilly Rinck (UK) explores common themes in mythology: metamorphosis, unknown origins, and the play between dualities, creating her own mythology of materials. Distinctions between the animate and inert become blurry and porous. Xinyi Gao’s (China) work evolves around the exploration of blurring the demarcation between living and non-living entities. Ranging from electronic devices to living organisms, her work seamlessly incorporates materials and elements from both artificial and natural systems. Sang Woo Yoo (Seoul, Korea) is an artist driven by the intention to reawaken modern senses. He creates art that engages multiple senses, challenging societal numbness through material ecological cycles. He employs dead Christmas trees as his metaphor.Koko Zhang (China) consistently finds inspiration in the little moments of life and skillfully embellishes them with adorable characters within her stories. Emily Moon (USA) aims to portray the ways in which she believes intelligence is measured in prescriptive ways- specifically overlooking the insight of disabled, neurodivergent minds. She relays this experience through the use of a tactile painting, wearable masks, strewn yarn, and interactive secrets for the viewer to unearth. Asad Khan (USA) explores restoring meaningful agency to the captive animal. His design prototype allows jumping spiders to manipulate the light levels of their own environments by interacting with proximity sensors. Shae Nadine (Canada/USA) offers a meditation on the interconnectedness of all things, from the tiniest of neurons to vast expanses of nebulae. Through abstracted natural visual elements and hyper-attention to detail, the artist explores the juxtaposition of universality and intimacy, in addition to the struggle between humanity and nature. Diana Sanchez (Colombia) explores her own grief using human tears and lab-made tears to interrogate broader questions around love, death, data centers and evolution. Could we have an algorithmic grief estimating how long such emotions can last? Are our emotions bio assets to keep in data centers such as our blood and saliva? Trisha Gupta (USA) uses snakes and the medical caduceus as a symbolic metaphor to address competent and incompetent care. Her work explores human rights violations at Forest Haven Asylum that closed in the 1990s.

Artwork above: Sangwoo Yoo

Photographs by Xuemeng Zhang

A wall-mounted installation, featuring bioplastics and pieces of broken mirror with the words, “what is a body?” written across them. Four photographic prints of leaves, cellular structures, and yellow slime mold cultures. A tree-like plant with long red leaves standing within a white, wavy cardboard sculpture, surrounded by dehydrated mushrooms and illuminated by a fuchsia grow light. A large leaf, with a biosensor attached to it. A person from out of frame, squeezing the leaf of a plant which is labeled “touch me”, and is attached to biosensors. Various plants sit on a white tile floor among groups of dehydrated mushrooms and wavy white sculptures, their leaves sporting biosensors with wires running back to a central breadboard. A collection of plants arranged throughout a small white space, illuminated by multiple fuchsia grow lights, surrounding a block of text which reads, “Everything you touch, you change. everything you change, changes you”. A clear case mounted on a white wall, containing a glass dish filled with agar media and the following words written in red bacteria: “Dozens of residents died of aspirational pneumonia- a condition that occurs when food enters the respiratory system- after having been (force) fed while laying in their beds. Court orders were filed but they were never enforced.” A clear case mounted on a white wall, containing a glass dish filled with agar media and the following words written in red bacteria: “Hundreds upon hundreds of deaths, with the bodies of many ferried down to a tiny basement morgue before being unceremoniously interred in a field… 387 people buried below”. Snakeskin designs printed on sheets of bioplastic, arranged on the wall in the shape of a snake. A wavy, abstract sculpture made of pipes and clamps stands in the center of a small white space, across from a group of petri dishes, each containing a texture similar to snakeskin, arranged in a similar shape. Prints of snakeskin designs on sheets of bioplastic, positioned on a white tiled floor, beside a small group of multi-colored pill capsules. A close-up shot of a row of plastic petri dishes, each containing a snakeskin design printed on a sheet of bioplastic and a couple of colorful pill capsules, mounted to the wall with metal T pins. A close-up view of a silver sculpture of a snake’s head, gripped in a clamp at the top of a larger sculpture made with metal pipes. A collection of lizard skin, contained within a clear box which is mounted to the wall and labeled with the words, “I will abstain from all intentional wrongdoing and harm”. A glass jar filled with aquatic plants labeled “Plant-Anacharis Bunch (Egeria densa)”, with a photograph of microscopic algae in the background. A row of algae specimens in glass vials. A close-up view of a rocky coral taken through a mounted magnifying glass. A group of bioluminescent bacteria paintings within a glass case, illuminated by a black light. A group of slime mold cultures and preserved specimens sit on a pedestal, below three printed images of yellow slime mold. A clear plastic tube filled with green algae descending from the ceiling, attached to the back of an old television set showing a microscopic image of algae. A small, dimly lit white space filled with photographic prints hung on the walls and various biological materials and specimens arranged on pedestals. An aquarium filled with vials of algae, a small stack of books, and a jarred algae specimen set on a pedestal sit beneath a photograph of algae. A small, dimly lit white space filled with photographic prints hung on the walls and various biological materials and specimens arranged on pedestals beneath the artist’s name and the show title, “curiosis futurum” An arrangement of botanical specimens inside of a glass terrarium atop a pedestal and beside a label which reads “curiosis futurum”. A close-up shot of a clear tube containing a smaller clear tube filled with green algae, with a bright white light tube in the background. A couple of clear plastic tubes and one bright white light tube curl, draped floor-to-ceiling throughout a small white space. A terrarium containing live snails, placed among pieces of a broken computer. Two plastic petri dishes sit side-by-side inside of a broken computer, one dish contains a group of live ants, the other contains a live yellow slime mold culture. A plastic petri dish containing a yellow slime mold culture, placed on top of a piece of broken computer. A make-shift laboratory bench made of a tabletop and various technical elements stands under a set of lamps in the center of a white room, between a white board covered in notes, and a monitor showing an image of a red rose. A collage featuring a painted portrait of a woman surrounded by images of butterflies and plant life hanging on a white wall, between two smaller collages on opposite walls and above a small installation resembling a mossy altar. A collection of dehydrated SCOBY samples arranged on a brown tabletop. A close-up view of small sculptures made of mycelium, arranged on top of a shelf covered in moss. A metal rolling rack standing in the center of a white space, covered in pieces of a broken computer, some of which are submerged in an aquarium filled with water. A scientific diagram, laser etched into a wooden board, sits on a shelf against a white wall. Multiple plastic specimen collection tubes containing various materials on a pedestal, next to a round sheet of dehydrated SCOBY. Miscellaneous laboratory materials and equipment arranged across a tabletop, in front of a monitor showing an image of a mineral. A make-shift laboratory bench made of a tabletop and various technical elements stands under a set of lamps in the center of a white room, beside a large monitor showing an image of a green, rocky material. A row of metal T pins sticking out of a white wall, each one with a penny balanced on top, supporting a tiny pyramid made of sawdust. Multiple small glass vials filled with light green liquid stand on a light box, surrounded by various preserved botanical specimens and materials. An image printed faintly on a green, fibrous, paper-like material mounted on a white wall. Three images printed on a sheet of translucent yellow bioplastic. A series of small glass vials standing on a shelf, above a tiled floor covered with a green, powdery substance. A few small images printed on sheets of translucent bioplastic in silicone containers. Three photos of a green, powdery substance spread across floors in three different locations hang on a white wall. An abstract sculpture made with wires and a rubber tire sitting on a white pedestal. A group of weaving, wire sculptures and art objects made of various natural materials hung on a line against a white wall. An intricate, spiraling wire sculpture hung against a white wall beside a weaving made with natural materials. Three glass beakers, each containing a different substance, lined up beside a large plastic tub filled with blue copper chloride solution. Five plastic laboratory tubes containing a light yellow liquid arranged on a rack beside a sign which reads, “Daily sample of artist’s urine, falcon tubes, MDF”. Two stainless steel kidney trays sit beside each other beneath a clear acrylic case, and contain an agar media streaked with red bacteria. A stainless steel kidney tray beneath a clear acrylic case, containing an agar media covered in hair-like fungal growth. Installation shot, including intricate wire sculptures fixed to wooden bases and hung from the ceiling, an arrangement of amber bottles, and multiple containers of live grass sitting on white pedestals. A group of weavings and sculptures made of various natural materials hung on a line against a white wall, above a specimen collection arranged on a tabletop. Detail shot of a wall-mounted sculpture featuring a small capsule filled with seedlings, connected to clear tubes. A translucent blue sign mounted to a white wall with metal T pins which reads, “What is an embodied existence for you?” Detail shot of a wall-mounted sculpture featuring small capsules filled with seedlings and kidney-bean shaped blocks made of mycelium, connected by a series of clear tubes. Close-up shot of yellow slime mold growing across the interior surface of a glass bell jar. A wall-mounted sculpture featuring small capsules filled with seedlings and kidney-bean shaped blocks made of mycelium, connected by a series of clear tubes. Wider view of three large photographic prints hung against a white wall, beside a video projection. A tiny, figurative clay sculpture placed on top of a block of substrate, surrounded by live pink mushrooms. A small clay sculpture of a figure lying underneath a leaf. Multiple sculptures arranged on a brown tabletop, including a clay figure surrounded by live pink mushrooms, another figure lying underneath a leaf, and a third figure inside of a large glass jar filled with soil. A small clay sculpture of a figure on a toilet, atop a soil surface studded with tiny leaves from a jade plant. A large photographic print featuring a germinated seed, hung on a white wall beside a video projection of similar imagery. Two long photo-composite prints hung against a white wall. A row of small glass vials containing freshly germinated seedlings arranged on a shelf against a white wall, above an identical shelf supporting two glass petri dishes. Three very long photographic prints featuring botanical imagery hung together against a white wall. A series of dyed, hand-made botanical slides arranged in a row along a white wall. An arrangement of art objects sitting on a white pedestal, including three baby bottles containing a yellow liquid, a baby’s pacifier sculpted in glass, and a plastic bottle of laboratory-grad Luria broth. A mobile, hung from the ceiling by a thin clear thread, featuring various tiny glass sculptures of microbes casting a dynamic shadow on the floor. A wire sculpture with a large central eye placed on top of a pedestal, draped in a sheet of wet SCOBY. Installation shot, featuring a wire sculpture with a large central eye, a black hat filled with objects sitting on a chair, and multiple texts hung on the white walls. A colorful, abstract figurative painting hung against a white wall. Three photographs of microbes hung against a white wall, around the corner from a video projection of the artist sculpting glass with a blowtorch. Close-up view of a petri dish on a tabletop, containing a delicate glass sculpture resembling a streak of bacterial growth. A close-up view of a small glass sculpture of a microbe, hung from the ceiling by a thin clear thread. A close-up view of a small glass sculpture of a microbe, hung from the ceiling by a thin clear thread. A close-up view of a small glass sculpture of a microbe, hung from the ceiling by a thin clear thread. Two hand-drawn posters hang on adjacent walls, featuring botanical imagery and stylized text. Two grow lights positioned over a large, pear-shaped glass terrarium filled with moss and plant life. Three large photographs of tarantulas inside of a miniature bedroom set hang on adjacent white gallery walls. Multiple paper cutouts of human figures covered in various biological materials are arranged on adjacent white gallery walls, underneath a swarm of paper cut-out ants and the word “Entomocene”. A close-up shot of a small 3-d print of a reclining female figure draped in dehydrated scoby. A close-up shot of a glass bottle filled with moss, and two hand-written notes on dehydrated SCOBY samples. A collection of art objects sit on a table top, including a figurative sculpture, glass bottles filled with moss, and wood covered in lichen. Installation shot featuring two photographs of biological materials hung on a wall, a table top full of specimens, a miniature bedroom set, and a glass habitat containing a live tarantula. A glass terrarium mounted against a white wall in a dark space, with one single bright light illuminating the inside. A close-up shot of spider silk strewn across the substrate at the bottom of a terrarium. Two matching glass terrariums mounted against a white wall in a dark space, each lit by one single bright light. A live tarantula climbing up the glass wall of her habitat, which sits on a shelf surrounded by aquariums and plant life. An abstract paper cut-out shape hangs above a row of ceramic sculptures. Close-up view of a tarantula molt against an iridescent background. A set of black curtains is pulled back to reveal matching glass terrariums mounted against a white wall in a dark space, each lit by one single bright light. A close-up view of a gray female jumping spider, perched in the corner of a glass terrarium, with a large palm leaf in the foreground. A glass terrarium mounted against a white wall in a dark space, with one single bright light illuminating the inside. Close-up view of a petri dish containing a sheet of bioplastic topped with bee pollen. A long row of petri dishes containing dyed bioplastics line a white wall, each nestled inside of a black wooden frame. A petri dish containing bioplastic dyed orange, hanging against a wall in a wooden mount. Close-up view of a plastic petri dish on a wooden base, containing a sheet of bio-plastic. An array of petri dishes containing multicolored bioplastics sit on a brown tabletop.
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