Pattern of Activation (embryogenesis)
Katja Novitskova
(2017)
'Pattern of Activation (embryogenesis)‘ by Katja Novitskova, is an installation composed of several elements including a sculpture with an image of an adult C. Elegans worm and a group of small sculptures with images of C. Elegans embryo eggs at various stages of development. The artwork takes references from contemporary bio-technological industries that rely heavily on the lives of billions of lab organisms (worms, fruit flies, rats, bacteria, etc.) to test out various hypotheses, chemical compounds, and genetic mutations.
To make genetic mutations visible in these lap organisms, scientists use fluorescent marker protein. At this point, the organisms themselves become living images. The C. Elegans, a type of non-parasitic worm, has been used for mutating living images for decades. It is the first animal to have its' full genome and neurons sequenced and the first animal to get an AI digital simulation of itself.
The C. Elegans is a voiceless mutant, an unaware cyborg, a constantly surveilled industrial worker, and a living data graph, that in many ways defines our era of the expanding colonization of life on Earth through constant intrusive anthropocentric documentation.