BODY OF MATTER | MU | Strijp S

Body of Matter presents the work of ten artists that advance our ideas about the body. They explore its materiality, stimulation, quantification using technology, integration with alien matter, and, finally, its obsolescence by simulation.

The artists here expand our collective knowledge of the body both by creating sensorial experiences for visitors and tapping into the hugely expanded science of the body through fields such as Microbiology, Neuroscience, Genomics, and tissue culturing.

These and other areas of study now make it possible to enhance, protect, monitor, stimulate, and replicate functions of the body and behavior of human cells as never before. Such abilities pry open doors of possibility for creative expression and prompt artists to materialize how these changes transform our long-held notions of identity and imagine the future they foretell.

Among the participants are the three winners of the for 2015!

Isaac Monté and Toby Kiers’ The Art of Deception show that beauty is really on the inside by presenting a selection of discarded pig hearts aesthetically improved and transformed into fully functional aesthetically improved hearts for humans.
Drones with Desires, by Agi Haines, Marcel de Jeu and Jos van der Geest explores the thin line between natural and artifice, by creating a machine with inbuilt human memories. A drone controlled by your own brain.

The MSA: Microbiome Security Agency provides you with a toolkit of DIY biological information manipulation tactics. They want you to be prepared for a future where your personal information is at risk through your biological datasets.

The current winners are joined by two previous laureates and five additional artists working at the forefront of bioart and biodesign: Maarten Vanden Eynde, Charlotte Jarvis, Floris Kaayk, Orion Maxted, Kristin Neidlinger, Špela Petrič and Hongjie Yang.

Body of Matter is curated by Angelique Spaninks, Director, MU Gallery, and William Myers, Jury Chairman Bio Art and Design Awards.