PLACENTASISTERREPUBLICS
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PLACENTA- SISTER REPUBLICS
MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION WITH REMOTE HOOK UP
GALLERY CANOLFAN, JAPAN AND NEW YORK CITY FPU 13, 1997
A GLASS TANK FILLED WITH A FORMALDEHYDE SOLUTION CONTAINS A HUMAN PLACENTA IN NAGOYA JAPAN. CCTV CAMERAS MONITOR THE INSTALLATION. SIMULTANEOUSLY, A COMPOSITE LOCATION IN NEW YORK CITY AT FPU 13 PRESENTS A SECOND HUMAN PLACENTA THAT IS LEFT FOR DECOMPOSITION IN A FUME HOOD. EQUALLY RIGGED AND SURROUNDED BY SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS, VIDEO STREAMS INTERCHANGE VIA POINT-TO-POINT TRANSMISSION UTILIZING CU-SEE ME BROADCAST TECHNOLOGY. THESE VIDEO STREAMS APPEAR IN BOTH LOCATIONS RESPECTIVELY.
THE PLACENTA- SISTER REPUBLICS MULTIMEDIA INSTALLATION IS A THOUGHT-PROVOKING EXPLORATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND NATURE, SPECIFICALLY FOCUSING ON THE PROCESS OF SCULPTURE AND THE CONJUNCTIVE ELEMENTS OF THE TWO.
THE INSTALLATION FEATURES TWO GLASS TANKS, ONE LOCATED IN NAGOYA, JAPAN AND THE OTHER IN NEW YORK CITY, BOTH FILLED WITH A FORMALDEHYDE SOLUTION AND CONTAINING A HUMAN PLACENTA. THE TANKS ARE EQUIPPED WITH CCTV CAMERAS THAT MONITOR THE INSTALLATION AND THE GRADUAL DECOMPOSITION OF THE PLACENTAS.THROUGH THIS INSTALLATION, THE ARTIST IS NOT ONLY SHOWCASING THE NATURAL PROCESS OF DECOMPOSITION, BUT ALSO USING SCULPTURE AS A MEDIUM TO EXAMINE THIS PROCESS. THE USE OF FORMALDEHYDE SERVES AS A MEANS OF PRESERVATION, ALLOWING THE ARTIST TO CONTROL AND MANIPULATE THE RATE OF DECOMPOSITION, AND THUS, THE SCULPTURE ITSELF. THIS MANIPULATION, HOWEVER, DOES NOT NEGATE THE NATURAL PROCESS BUT RATHER HIGHLIGHTS IT, EMPHASIZING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND NATURE.
THE USE OF CCTV CAMERAS AND VIDEO TRANSMISSION TECHNOLOGY ADDS ANOTHER LAYER TO THE INSTALLATION, DRAWING ATTENTION TO THE ACT OF SURVEILLANCE AND THE VIEWER'S RELATIONSHIP TO THE SCULPTURE. THE AUDIENCE BECOMES NOT ONLY A VIEWER, BUT ALSO A PARTICIPANT IN THE INSTALLATION, AS THEY ARE ABLE TO WATCH THE DECOMPOSITION PROCESS UNFOLD IN REAL TIME IN BOTH LOCATIONS.
THE JUXTAPOSITION OF THE TWO PLACENTAS, ONE PRESERVED AND THE OTHER LEFT TO DECOMPOSE, ALSO HIGHLIGHTS THE CONCEPT OF DUALITY AND THE IDEA OF SISTER REPUBLICS. THE TWO PLACENTAS, WHILE SIMILAR IN NATURE, REPRESENT DIFFERENT STAGES IN THE CYCLE OF LIFE AND DEATH, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE TWO IS FURTHER EMPHASIZED BY THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO CONNECT THE TWO LOCATIONS.
