Ulat bansi from CEMA on Vimeo.

Design and the Elastic Mind is a new show that has opened up at the MOMA that I would very much like to see. It would be great to hear any responses from readers that had the chance to attend.

The exhibition of Sui generis continues this week in the Windows Room (3rd floor) at Palmer Commons (hours: 7:30 am-11pm Mon-Sat). The exhibition is open to the public now through April 13th, 2007.

A reception will be held on Friday, March 30th from 5-6:30 p.m. at the above location. Gabriel Harp will be on hand to discuss the work.

A presentation entitled, “Network Entrepreneurship in Biology, Art, & Design” will take place on April 2nd, 2007 from 5-6:30 p.m. in the Art & Architecture Auditorium.

About the work:
Sui generis is a large-scale tectonic, systems-based installation designed to take into account related conceptual attributes of a chapel, scientific laboratory, carnival, and children’s nursery. Sui generis offers a cognitive retreat, a place for reflection, and a chance to come into close physical proximity with other organisms and ourselves. A rules-based activity based on the concept of asexual reproduction continues through the duration of the exhibition. A selection from Lewis Carrol’s Through the Looking Glass often used to explain and ideate contemporary theories about the evolution of sex and recombination accompanies the artwork.

In order to experience the installation, visitors will be invited to raise their heads through one of the two holes in the floor underneath. When inhabiting the interior, the two viewers will be confronted not only with the shadowscape, but also with each other. As the architecture is elusive in its source, it invites diverse interpretations–a carnival sideshow, a Zen garden, a Victorian greenhouse, a virus, or perhaps even a flower awaiting pollination.

The title Sui generis indicates an idea, an entity or a reality that cannot be included in a wider concept. In intellectual property law, exclusive rights are granted for the creation and development of plant breeds, databases and traditional knowledge (among others) to reflect that the subject matter is a product of the intellect.

For more background, explore a database of terms and concepts associated with the design of Sui generis as well as documentation of the construction process.

About the Artist:
In his work, Gabriel Harp recombines visual art and life science (epistemology) through the processes of critical design and network entrepreneurship. Often working at the interfaces of evolutionary biology, bioinformatics, education, and visual culture, his work investigates the roles of metaphors in education, science and policy and the primacy of visual signals in the discourse surrounding genomics and biotechnology. Collaborating with Zack Denfeld and others, Gabriel is currently developing a visual map of patent claims on the human genome.

click the above image for a quicktime timelapse movie of the installation process…

Information about the exhibition here…

Opening night…

each image opens as a quicktime movie in your browser

The view approaching Palmer Commons from Medical Campus (north).

The view from inside where sui.generis will be installed.

click on the image for a time-lapse quicktime movie