Tolerating Uncertainty - We began as part of the body

We began as part of the body is an artwork exploring complex human and ethical questions about the relationship between the body, science and technology, created by the author in response to an artist in residence post undertaken at Professor Sara Brown’s eczema genetic research lab (University of Dundee) and ASCUS Art & Science in 2017. The artwork is an immersive journey, comprised of a mixed reality experience for the Magic Leap headset, developed from LIDAR and electromagnetic scans, 3D prints created using confocal microscopy and a speech synthesised spoken-word narration, telling the story of organotypic (artificial) skin’s short ‘in-vitro’ life, from the point of view of the cells. The poetic, experiential and aesthetic nature of the art work, re-frames the medicalised body, giving the general public, academics and scientists, new ways to experience and think about the human body, as a technologically and scientifically distributed entity. Combining a critical arts based approach with scientifically accurate information, the project gives audiences the opportunity to think and experience these themes and questions, beyond the quantitative limits, structures and systems of science. The project gives audiences access to the practical activities of the genetic bio-medical lab environment and critical insight into the philosophical questions around clinical translational research. The author’s unique position and approach is as an artist and creative researcher, not bio-medical scientist, and interest is not in the science itself, but in its affective potential and implications, and how this adds to the evolving relationship between embodiment, technology and science.