Gina Czarnecki - Journal

Wednesday

25Nov2009

pixie dust

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 12:08PM

A film from the research and development for a series of works entitled 'Watsed'. This film is made for the BBC Big Screens and was made as part of DadaFest 09.

Pixie Dust explores the notion of limb regeneration for humans within the contexts of science, sport, disability and super-ability.

The title Pixie Dust comes from the substance taken from the pigs gut matrix that is applied to wounds to prevent scarrification and therefore allow continual growth of the tissue – as used in finger regeneration (allegedly) it plays the nonreality and disney-fication of scientific research.

We are entering a new era of clinical practice with the development of regenerative medicine, harnessing our previously undiscovered potential to self-repair, with stem cells as a way for the body to regenerate itself and to regenerate others. Stem-cell biologists and those involved in regenerative medicine are fascinated by the story of Prometheus, the Greek god whose immortal liver was feasted on day after day. This myth invariably provokes the questions: Did the ancient Greeks know about the liver's unique capacity for self-repair? What opportunities did the ancient Greeks have to learn about the liver's structure and function?
In 20 years time , given the speed of medical research and the focus of regenerative research, could we see the regrowth of human limbs?

Regeneration through the “natural process” is contrasted with regeneration through defined techniques and with defined outcomes as pursued by science and technology.

Do we seek to imitate nature or bypass nature or subvert nature? How do our attitudes to imitation, manipulation or subversion differ when set in context of human biology the larger ecosystem or , for example.the Olympics? Will we opt for the natural or the augmented? Vanity or for function? Ability or superability?

With genetic enhancement, regenerative therapies, technological development and bioengineering the notion of ‘performance enhancement, has to be redifined. Will it mean that those people with artificial limbs are no longer ‘disabled’ but performance enhanced?

Pixie Dust was funded by Wellcome Trust and Dadafest.

tropical medicine

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Wednesday, November 25, 2009 at 11:47AM

The study of tropical medicine was born in Liverpool. It is a history running in tandem with that of colonialism, international travel and economies of exploration and exploitation. Tropical Medicine has subsequently developed into the study of contemporary global health concerns from disease to pandemics. The language of the virus has itself migrated into the language of ideas, global trends travel through duplication and replication and today notions of the other are challenged through collective intelligence built by communication networks, international travel and migration as well as by developments in science and technology. Tropical medicine explores human histories and myths, human futures and the futures of medicine.

This proposal is to create an environmental artwork; a tropical art -garden housed in the grounds of the Sir Alfred Jones Hospital in Garston, Liverpool. 'Tropical Medicine' offers sanctuary from a medical de-humanizing clinical environment and opens questions about our contemporary view of nature; human, plant and animal.

Gardening is one of the most ancient examples of human cultivation of ‘nature’. Through transforming our experience of humidity, light, temperature, sound, smell, feel and architecture this garden creates a tropical synthesis – a surprising twilight world that will lift the spirit, reduce anxiety and engage the mind, providing an alternative focus to take us to an other place.

Made with multiple partners from the creative, scientific and local communities, this work expresses an innovative, integrated and collaborative approach to creation. The melding of the artworks and garden redefines the notion of container and content and collectively manifests topics such as “natural process” in contrast to the regeneration systems of modern medical science. Ideas of nationhood, cultivation, augmentation, perfection and normality are addressed. How do our attitudes to imitation and manipulation differ when set in context of human biology or the larger ecosystem?

'Tropical medicine' will be a unique local and international landmark.The combination in Merseyside of Foundation for Art and Creative Technology, The Liverpool school of Tropical Medicine and the new Biomedical Research Center, is already synthesizing a new approach to art and medicine. The reinvigoration of the community through innovative linking of the allotments, the Garston market and the hospital’s community cafe with educational projects will provide a ground breaking trans-generational opportunity for health, wellbeing education, economic regeneration and tourism for one of the most deprived wards of the UK.