CICA Museum, M Gallery
June 19 – 23, 2024
2024.06.19 – 23
I am an Artefact
I am an Artefact
Mixed Media Installation
MRI scan, Medical Imaging Process , 2ch video, Beeswax, Acrylic panel, Aerogel, Ultrasonic humidifier
”I am an Artefact” is an installation that was developed with the participation of two laboratories.
Firstly, my whole body was scanned with magnet resonance imaging (MRI) to obtain digital information of my body in the department of radiology in Düsseldorf Germany. This information was used to create the work with the help of a medical imaging software, a 3D printer, a laser cutter and at least in form of manual sculpting. Secondly, my forefinger was recreated out of a material called ‘Aerogel’ at the institute of materials physics in Cologne Germany. This special material is known as the lightest solid in the world.
The work started with ‘interest in the soul’. In the literature, the ancient Egyptians believed that the soul was in the heart, and the Babylonians, known as the legend of the Tower of Babel, believed that the soul was in the liver. The 15th-century philosopher René Descartes believed that the soul existed in a small organ called the pineal gland of the brain, and raised the dualism of the mind and body. Modern humans understand that there is no soul or that it is an emotion caused by a chemical reaction of the brain. Does the soul exist in the body? So is it the brain or the heart? Or does the soul not exist? With this curiosity, the work began by observing and visualizing the inside of the body using MRI.
Through the work, I gave physical properties to the soul by myself and divided it into ‘natural and artificial objects’. The meaning of artefacts made and done by humans made it possible to separate and think of my own body from nature. Another meaning of artefacts, such as system
errors or unexpected results, was actually the way this work was conducted, and the errors that appeared in the experiment were corrected and retried through various processes.
In the technological age, the human body and soul are my main concerns, and I look at the body and spirit as communication materials and pay attention to the potential it has. I expressed the methodological exploration of technology as an artistic material and the thoughts of humans and artefacts in the form of a total installation as follows.
Inside Out
Interactive Performance
Finger clip sensor (pulse oximetry), Arduino, heart rate counter, servo motor, Electrical muscle stimulator
“Inside Out” is a performance that the audience can take part in one after the other. The performer sits in front of the shop window and shows his left arm to the audience opposite. In front of the audience is a finger clip sensor that can measure the pulse / heartbeat. Electrodes are attached to the performer’s left arm, which can easily stimulate the muscle using an electrical muscle
stimulator, thereby allowing the body to move. Depending on the audience’s pulse, his left hand reacts and moves differently.
