Lime green and cobalt blue molecules dance with each other in a Petri dish of blue liquid. The action is magnified onto a screen, and at this size it resembles a water polo game full of violent interactions. A lab experiment at Tech? Maybe, but not this time.
Instead a new exhibit, “Gene(sis): Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics” at the Block Museum of Art, has permeated the art space with science.
The piece, titled “Genesis,” is one of many works representing the transgenic art movement. By creating a molecule and projecting it on a screen, artist Eduardo Kac represents the fluidity of beauty through the instantaneous genetic transformation catalyzed by the lamps.
But even more interesting is his process of molecule creation. By translating a verse from the Bible into Morse code and then assigning it a DNA equivalent, Kac created the molecular equivalent of “Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon earth.”
As innovative as this piece sounds, Kac is more famous for another of his works. Interested in the fusion of life science and art, Kac commissioned the Paris-based Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) to help him create a living art project. By injecting a rabbit with the green fluorescent protein from a jelly fish, Kac created a rabbit that emits a slight green hue when placed in ultraviolet light.
It’s been three years since Kac has seen his pet rabbit, Alba. Unsure about unleashing this scientific technology to the public, the INRA reposessed the rabbit. Ever the creator, Kac’s solution was to turn the process of Alba’s reconnaissance into an artistic process.
For plastering Paris with posters of himself, a rabbit and words like “Famille,” “Art” and “Science,” Kac has garnered attention. He has even gone so far as to facilitate Alba discussions on his Web site, continuing these discussions in books placed in museums near the posters and photographs of Alba, as an exhibit in itself.
Comments in the Block Museum’s discussion book range from threats by a sixth grader to free Alba to an anonymous remark that states, “Sterile genetic dreams are not what they seem to be. Remember sanity is a creative act.” Communication freshman Rachel Durston says she doesn’t even want to see Alba, explaining the artist “could do something else for art besides ruining life.”
And Kac is only one of 22 artists featured in this exhibit, which originated at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle. Since then the exhibit has traveled across the country and will inhabit the Block Museum until Nov. 28. Several of the featured artists will speak at the museum, with Kac appearing Nov. 5. A symposium also will be held on Oct. 2 to educate those interested in transgenic art.
Debora Wood, the exhibit’s curator, says it was originally proposed several years ago when the museum hired a new director. And though the process was drawn out, the Block Museum waited because, Wood believes, this exhibit “embodies everything very interesting in contemporary art.”
The exhibit arouses interest by grounding each piece in genome theory or using media such as human blood as a reference point. At the same time, however, it refrains from alienating art connoisseurs, as the scientific aspect is relatively subtle.
“It’s based on science, but it’s anything but an exposition of science,” said Seymour Homer, a local sculptor who viewed the exhibit.
The exhibition also includes a giant grid in varying shades of gray, each representing a separate DNA protein, by Gregor Mobius, while Kori Newkirk’s “Adaptation” challenges the stereotype that he plays basketball because he is a tall black man with his drawing of a DNA strand entirely out of basketballs. Daniel Lee questions science and attempts to enlighten patrons by with his drawings of hybrid human-animals.
To Homer the ideas presented in the exhibit are “frightening” and “strange.” Wood agrees, saying “the topic can be a little challenging,” but stands by the assertion it is “important to take on challenging exhibits (that) raise important questions.”
Although Wood says the exhibit has been “very well attended,” some patrons are skeptical. “It’s not a Degas or a Monet exhibit,” Homer says. “It’s definitely and knowingly not going to be a popular exhibit.”
But Weinberg sophomore Fritz Schenker, a security guard at the museum and PLAY writer, says the aesthetic of the show is enough to overcome any uneasiness from the accompanying scientific explanations.
“If you saw the pictures without any description, you would think it was just normal art,” Schenker says.
Medill freshman Kurt Soller is a PLAY writer. He can be reached at [email protected].
