Life Industries, 2009-2012
On one of NPR’s Science Friday programs, there was a discussion of the viability of auto assembly in manufacturing. The basic principle is that providing the correct recipe and environment, one could construct a computer or other complex machine by just providing the right variables and setting them in motion. I was particularly struck by how this happens in the form of life, with fertilized eggs following local rules of chemical interaction that eventually leads to a complex living organism. In the series “Life Industries”, I am exploring the idea of products that are living things, manufactured and marketed, the necessary construction being merely code that explains a sequence of events to make the organism viable. I have created fictitious “life products” which are labeled according to their product name/number and the periodic elements on which they are based. I rely on the artistic conventions of 50s and 60s advertisements, a period of utopian hope in the abilities of new technological advancements. This series includes gouache paintings, screen prints, sculptures and stop animation videos.