The dynamic, diverse structure of a protein consists of amino acid sequences, quite widespread in the Universe. When X-rayed, it reveals its atomic arrangement, which could serve as a map of a starry sky. Its folding topology, on the other hand, reminds of mysterious geometric formations called “Calabi-Yau manifolds” in which, according to the superstring theory, successive dimensions of our world are “curled up” on a subatomic scale.

In our daily perception we live in a 4-dimensional world but we suspect that it might be a simplified illusion and our relationship with the reality may remain much more subtle than what our senses offer us to believe. The question appears: what kind of tools and methods can we can use in order to comprehend how we exist in the multidimensional Universe? How can we reach it with our minds, “narrowed down” to 4D and understand what does it mean to live in a multidimensional universe?

Can a protein molecule serve as a key to investigate these questions?

Human Genome Project revealed that the number of genes is much smaller than proteins they code. While human genome is made of around 22 thousand genes, human proteom contains around 400 thousand proteins. Each of them, different in its form and functions, reminds us that we ourselves are involved in the obscure matter of the Universe that we only started to discover.

I base my reflections on my art projects realized with the support of International Centre of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi and National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India as well as Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology University of Poznań in Poland. In these projects I bride scientific and cultural imageries, translating scientific ideas into the area of art as a source of personal and collective consciousness and invite intuitive examination of the unfathomable nature of our reality.

In recent scholarly discussions an interesting phenomenon is emerging: The further life is being instrumentalised; isolated from its original context and become a product for human manipulation; matter, whether living, semi living or non-living, is attributed with vitality and agency in what some refer to as “new materialism”(Gilles Deleuze, Manuel de Landa, Jane Bennett and more). These phenomenon are complementary as much as contradictory; more than anything it further blurs the perceptual (and technological) boundaries between what we consider living, semi living and non-living.

One of our recent pieces Crude Matter concerns with the importance of the substrate – the context – for life; the context is vital to life development and differentiation as much as, if not more than, the genetic code. Lately there is a growing realisation that this differentiation depends very much on the extra cellular matrixes on which these cells are growing; even a subtle change in substrate consistency will have a fundamental effect on the cells plasticity and the lineage they will take. In the paper titled ‘Substrate stiffness affects early differentiation events in embryonic stem cells’ Evens at el demonstrate how the mere changes in the stiffness of the substrate (PDMS) will change the path of differentiation of stem cells into different types of tissue such as bone, fat etc.

Loosely based on the story of the Golem (literally means “crude” “unshaped”) we are exploring the “alchemy like” transformation of materials into active substrates which have the ability to act as surrogates and upon life. The story of the Golem described the emergence of life from inanimate matter (mud); life that was forceful but brute and could be precariously shaped for different purposes and intentions. Some say that the body (or the clay dust remains) is still in the attic of the New Old Synagogue of Prague. Our aim is to explore, in a poetic way, and bring back into the forefront the materiality of life in context. This is to differ from the hegemony of the metaphor of life as a code, and the following postulation that life can be controlled. Drawing on historical references taken from the middle ages, we would like to look at engineered life that is on the edges of the what we consider animate or in animate – and provide it with some sort of agency, even if symbolic.

Advertising language functions as a powerful vehicle in creating a seductive relationship between the cosmetics industry´s products and their customers. While the actual products are supposed to dialogue with the human body in a material way, the content of the messaging is often working on a more abstract, psychologically evocative level. These »incantations« have a subconscious influence on our body image. The terminology communicates that the human body – by means of biotechnology – can be formed, manipulated and controlled. Seemingly aggressive and packed with numerous technological terms, the vocabulary used vividly conveys the physical changes, rejuvenation and improvement that occur at both a cellular and molecular level.

»Cellular Performance« draws on this terminology and applies it directly to the fleshy, living material that it makes reference to. Human skin cells, extracted and isolated from their bodily environment, are manipulated in the laboratory by means of bio-technological methods. This results in two-dimensional structures of cellular matter that visually »reincarnate« the incantations of cosmetics industry.

Microscopic time-lapse recordings are used to make visible and document the attempt to control the biological matter. Occasionally, the cells form legible structures, which quickly dissipate again. These short moments of successful stabilization are quickly followed by disintegration and entropy.

In regard to »MutaMorphosis 2012« I would like to focus on certain issues of uncertainty and instability that occur when working with biological, semi-living »material« and within experimental situations in general.

Cells as unstable »material«:

I would like to discuss the technology of cell culture and the processes of stabilization that attempt to turn such unstable life forms like cells ex vivo into stable and reliable workhorses. As semi-living entities that have been extracted from a human (or animal) body, cells do need continuous care when being kept alive in the laboratory before they can be used as a tool for science. Besides a certain number of instruments it also needs a lot of (hands-on) experience to keep cells alive over a longer period of time.

The experimental situation and the reproducibility of experiments:

Every experiment is a combination of a large number of different steps and conditions.

Even if one strives to repeat exactly the same steps from experiment to experiment, there are always slight variations we might not even be aware of. If an experiment doesn´t work out as expected it is sometimes very hard to figure out why things are not the same as before.

It might for example be that a certain detail that hasn´t been described in the protocol turns out to be very important in the end, or that a slight difference in timing or handling makes a huge difference regarding the result.

Especially in the context of Art-Science projects, where reproducibility is not a must, this uncertainty regarding the experimental outcome can be used as a tool to generate novel results and new ideas.

Methodology:

As an artist who worked in a scientific laboratory I would like to talk about my practical experience working with cells in vitro and combine it with philosophical and historical perspectives, focusing on uncertainty and instability vs. the engineering approach to control life and on the issues that arise when working with semi-living material in the context of an Art project.