Unruly Objects

Unruly Objects explores the conservation of antiquities, and how researchers are now looking into ways to augment the microbiomes of antiquities to prevent or arrest their decay. It also reflects on the potential collection and conservation of contemporary living biological sculptures by museums and the use of blockchain /Web3 technologies to store conservation data such as the artist’s documentation, in the form of her ideas, materials, and process. 

These sketches have been developed, in the form of three carved pieces of reclaimed sea-washed marble. The carvings are based on scanning electron microscope images of the micro-organisms that eat away at antiquities and images of the damaged stone. The holes are carved because conservators told the artist that these, bacteria, and plant roots are the greatest challenges the preservation ancient Greek antiquities. The painting references how ancient statues were originally brightly painted and looked nothing like our modern notion of classical art. When the colour (or some other aspect) disappears from a modern artwork, due to decay, that work is usually retired to the archive.

The sketches also include biological materials including mud from a bacterial ecosystem known as a Winogradsky Column, plant seeds, and SARS-CoV-2 RNA (coronavirus) from a plasmid construct (a timestamp to mark the creation of the works during the Covid-19 pandemic. This last element is a safe, non-infectious reagent for SARS-CoV-2 research obtained from the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, UK. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was supplied by researchers Dr Ines Moura and Dr Jane Freeman at the University of Leeds who are working with the SARS-CoV-2 primers and the RNA construct in the development and use of a RT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 detection in faeces.

This video is based on a photogrammetry scan of one of the Unruly Objects. See more https://annadumitriu.co.uk/portfolio/unruly-objects/