organism: making art with living systems

Christien Meindertsma is a designer with an investigative mind. She analyzes, surveys and in her latest project she went as far as dissecting a pig.

A few years ago, as she was graduating from the Design Academy Eindhoven, she bought for a few euros the 3267 items taken from the passengers who embark at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam during one week: spoons, nail clippers, golf tools, bottle openers, pipe wrench, pocket knives, one axe, combs, toy pistols, etc. She photographed and archived the collection in Checked Baggage, a book containing the pictures of all these ‘tools of supposed soldiers of skyjacking and terrorism.’ The book itself was not safe for air travel as it came packaged with one of the ‘prohibited items’.

Next, Meindertsma set her sight on sheep. She used the wool of one sheep to make a sweater, a pair of socks, a scarf and a pair of gloves. She then attached to each garment the identification number of the sheep that donated the wool.

Christien Meindertsma has now filled a warehouse of pig products in the Rotterdam Kunsthal during an exhibition called Kunsthal Kookt (’The Kunsthal cooks’). Most of these products would never grace the display of your local butcher. They are the result of her investigation on what happens to a pig after it has been slaughtered. Part of it ends up BBQ’d but what about the rest?

After slaughter, bits and pieces of the Dutch pig travel around the world. Gelatin from its skin ends up in liquorices and gums, and even cheesecake and tiramisu. In the weapon industry the gelatin is used as conductor for bullets. Pork fat is one of the ingredients of, amongst others, anti-wrinkle cream and shampoo, information that producers are not too keen on admitting. The glue made from pig bones makes matches sturdier and porcelain is manufactured from its ashes. Protein from pig’s hair contributes to making bread soft. Every part of a pig is either eaten or processed. Should anything be left over, it is converted into green electric power. She documented her findings in the book PIG 05049 (amazon UK and USA).

If you understand a bit of dutch, here’s a video interview of the designer. If not, i’m afraid you’ll have to read the one we did via email:

Portrait of Christien Meindertsma, courtesy of the designer

What is behind the title of your latest work, PIG 05049?

PIG 05049 is a book that shows 185 endproducts that are made of a single pig. They are catagorized under the chapters Skin, Bones, Muscles, Blood, Internal intestines, Fat and Other.

You have filled a warehouse with pig-derived products in the Rotterdam Kunsthal for an exhibition which runs until September 28. How does the public react to the shocking news that there are traces of pigs in shampoos and bubblegums? Do you find them eager to change their buying habits?

They are curious and read all the products information. I expected more shock then there actually is. It is more surprise and curiosity. It would be impossible for consumers to find out which shampoos and gum actually have traces of pigs inside. I followed one pig and found all these products at the end of the line, but that doesn’t mean that – for instance- all shampoos carry pig traces inside.

Image 100% mike

Tattoo parlor, dentist studio, workshop of a weapon specialist, etc. The research for this project led you to meet a wide range of people. Can you tell us about one of the most interesting/surprising/exciting encounter you made over those 3 years spent working on this project?

It was very interesting to find such a wide variety of products, places and people. Some were very exited about cooperating, others were very secretive. One of the most surprising products is a bullet. It is made in the USA, gelatine from the pig is used to transport gunpowder into the bullet smoothly. So the pig is not actually inside the bullet but it is used in the production process.

The strangest encounter was with a director of a company that makes heartvalves for human hearts out of pig hearts. A beautiful high- and at the same time lowtech product. He told me he didn’t want his product -pig’s heartvalves-to be associated with pigs.

Revealing the use of pig ingredients to make some beauty creams and even in some candies might jeopardize their marketing value, especially among some religious communities. How difficult was it to obtain precise information from the cosmetic and food industry about the presence of pig ingredients in their products? Did you encounter any resistance at some point?

I received most of my information from a company that is at the beginning of the chain. They make all the raw materials for producers, so they know what is made of their materials. I am very greatful for their cooperation, they were very open and sponsored me in knoledge without wanting anything back for it, which is special because their clients were not always that open.

Which lesson(s) do you hope that the public will draw from your research?

That we should know more about the products we consume and the materials they are made of. I think a simple interest in them, what they are made of, who makes it and how, would already be a great step forward.

Image courtesy of the designer

I like the simple design of the PIG 05049 book. What is this yellow plastic thing stuck to its cover?

That is a duplicate of the eartag of a pig with number 05049 that the book is named after.

Are you a vegetarian? Or did your relationship to food changed since you started working on this project?

As a child I used to be. I eat some meat and fish now but not so much and when I cook it myself I try to buy good eco friendly meat.

I think I became more aware of ingredients in products generally, food as well as non-food. I started realy appreciating pure products with simple ingredients as well as complex products. For me as a designer i think i learned a lot.

What happened to These Flocks? Are you still working on the project? Selling some knitted garments?

I am currently working on new knitwear for Flocks. The large scale knits like the poufs and rugs are all made by hand in the Netherlands and for the smaller more fine pieces I started working with 3d knittingmachines. I like the contrast. The website is currently under construction.

New within flocks is the use of color. I added color as an ingredient to the products. Indigo, wauw, meekrap – all plants- and cochenille -lice- are added to the existing products creating bright blue, yellow, red and pink.

One of my favourite magazines is aminima. The name of the publication comes from the fact that its editors, the lovely Barcelona-based Andrea Garcia Mendez and Clara Alba, claim that they take a “very minimal” part to its redaction. It’s the artists themselves who write about their work. The selected authors maintain a critical view on the problems of their time. Their work reflects on aesthetic, technological and political questions.

Part of the mag is online and i just spotted this selection of writings by people “making art with living systems.”

Angelo Vermeulen sent me this great article from a 1914 New York Times:

Grow Human Tissue Outside the Body — 1914 NYTimes article

Have you recently experienced a heightened awareness of environmental concerns? Common symptoms may include: nausea, depression, feelings of helplessness, and increased fear of the words “polar,” “ice,” and “caps.” While there is as yet no cure for this condition, specialist Dr. Natalie Jeremijenko, of NYU’s Environmental Health Clinic, might be able to help. Since the clinic’s launch in February, Dr. Jeremijenko, along with her trained assistants, has been addressing the environmental anxieties of its visitors.

To be clear, Jeremijenko, 40, has a Ph.D., not an M.D. And the project is run under the auspices of NYU’s Art Department, not the School of Public Health. Her credentials as an artist and environ-mental activist, however, are solid. Since arriving in America in 1994, the Australian-born artist and engineer has been producing work that harnesses technology to make people’s interactions with the natural world more, well, interactive.

When visitors come to the clinic with an environmental health concern—like children’s exposure to lead—the clinic’s specialists don’t simply trot out advice about limiting exposure to paint chips (it’s a conceptual art project, not a health provider). “What differs,” says Jeremijenko, “is that you walk out with a prescription not for pharmaceuticals, but for actions and … referrals to interesting art, design, and participatory projects.” Concern about lead in the neighborhood might call for a prescription for planting sunflowers to detoxify the soil in the park where children play. The clinic then might ask for samples of the flowers to determine how many chemicals the plants had absorbed, while keeping detailed records that are available to the public. “The data is precisely not private—it has to do with the shared space, air, water, and environmental systems we inhabit.”

from Good Magazine : http://www.goodmagazine.com/section/Portraits/mad_scientist

Simon F. Park sent in a link to an article he has written on the use of bacteria in art:

Simon F. Park. The aesthetic microbe: ProkaryArt and EukaryArt
Microbiology Today, August 2007

http://www.sgm.ac.uk/pubs/micro_today/pdf/080706.pdf

Thanks!

Shana Ting Lipton has writen a number of magazine articles focusing on bio-art:
ART IMITATES LIFE-SCIENCE: The Bio-Art Movement Finds (Cultures & Grows) Its Wings in France.
Wired Magazine on Symbiotica
Wraparound Magazine on “grass photographers”
RES magazine on the year of bio-art 2003
RES magazine on transgenic architecture (as well as organic architecture)

Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order
by Steven Strogatz
A popular science title full of interesting examples of various types of synchronization found in animal/chemical/physical systems. Given its target audience it doesn’t get deeply into the math/science side of things, but there’s a very good references section at the back of the book.

(Amazon link)

The Big Idea

“Robugs, biologically based software, the GeoWeb, transgenic art and other hot frontiers in technological innovation.” by David Pescovitz

Section five of this Salon.com article talks about “Biology as art: Genetic creativity”
http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/11/30/big_idea_tech_list
(You can get a free daypass to read the article, no registration required.)

The Artists in the Hazmat Suits
by RANDY KENNEDY

New York Times article on Steven Kurtz case and bioart.

Why didn’t the Romans invent Photography?

Neat tutorial on making photographs with geranium leaves!

The word photography comes from the Greek “photos”, meaning light, and “graphos” meaning drawing, but the ancient Greeks didn’t invent photography. The word camera comes from the Latin “camera”, meaning room, and “obscura”, meaning dark. It’s not surprising the Ancient Greeks didn’t invent photography, after all, they never liked to get their hands dirty, but the Romans, who would have been at home in the “Dark Room”, could have invented photography, but never did. Why?

Nowadays, most people take photographs. Remove the modern cameras and film, and many homes still contain the things needed to produce a photograph, things which the Romans could have had access to as well.

What do we need to produce photographs?

* A dark room or box
* Lots of light
* Something which is sensitive to light
* A way to focus the light
* Chemicals that will reveal and fix the image

http://www.grand-illusions.com/roman.htm