Infected

‘Infected’ is a series of 3-D printed jewelry, based on an experiment with infected fungi. It is a self-initiated 2010 project by Maurizio Montalti, as part of Officina Copuscoli, a multidisciplinary creative consulting studio. This project is inspired by bacteria that grows when the human touch infects. So, varying kinds of bacteria started to grow in a circular profile, and differing shapes appeared, with fascinating textures, “proposing the origin of a narrative around the fundamental role that such micro-organisms play in our earthly existence. The result of the organism’s colonization gave life to a series of wearable ornaments, aiming at a reflection over our bodies’ identity and about the consciousness related to the variety of life-forms which make possible for our body to come into being (http://www.corpuscoli.com/projects/infected/).” This experiment in bacteria-inspired jewelry combines the technological mode of 3-D printing in addition to the natural element of bacteria that is present in our everyday world, that we wear on our bodies, but is not immediately visible. This project allows one to physically wear a representation of the unseen infection that humans can inflict. 

3-D printed bracelet

A 3-D printed ring inspired by bacteria

Ergo Sum

Ergo Sum is an extremely fascinating art work incorporating biotechnology. It was created by Charlotte Jervis, an artist-in-residence at the Netherlands Proteomics Centre in 2013. It was originally on display as part of the Netherlands Genomics Initiative’s Designers and Artists 4 Genomics Award ( DA4GA).

For this project, Charlotte sought to create a ‘second self’ through her own donated tissues that were transformed into stem cells and eventually ‘active brain,’ ‘beating heart,’ and ‘flowing blood’ vessels. She spent months working to bring her ‘partial doppelganger’ to life. In addition to the main scientific endeavor, she also created an incubator for displaying her cell samples. Essentially, Charlotte used “her own body to demystify the processes and challenge the prejudices and misunderstandings that surround stem cell technology” (http://we-make-money-not-art.com/ergo_sum_the_creation_of_a_sec/).

Ergo Sum began as a performance at WAAG society in Amsterdam. During the performance, Charlotte donated parts of her body to stem cell research. Blood, skin, and urine samples were taken and sent to the stem cell research lab at the Leiden University Medical Centre Core Facility, directed by Professor Dr. Christine Mummery. After this, scientists transformed the samples into induced pluripotent stem cells, which were then programmed to grow into cells with different functions, such as heart, brain, and vascular cells. The entire process was based on Nobel Prize winners John Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka’s discovery that adult, specialised cells can be reprogrammed and developed back into stem cells similar to embryos, which could then become almost any cell type and then grow into any tissue. Charlotte’s stem cells were copied, and are now immortal, as the cells can be stored for an unlimited period of time. The body parts that were created through this process (a brain, heart, and blood cells) were kept in an incubator made specifically for the viewers at the museum.

Charlotte, looking at her display of her cells

The brain cells that were grown from the stem cells from Charlotte’s skin

Cells on display

In a sense, “Ergo Sum is a biological self portrait. a second self; biologically and genetically ‘Charlotte’ although also ‘alien’ to her – as these cells have never actually been inside her body.” The whole process was essentially ‘cellular time travel’.