Mitchell edwards

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Birmingham Arts & Culture Timeline

During our co-lab project we have been looking heavily at the arts and culture of Birmingham Therefore I produced this timeline to show how Art has changed in Birmingham throughout the ages.

Initially we started the brief with the following question -

If you could change any aspect of the body to make it better what would you change ?

I started the project by thinking about that very question and brainstorming what changes could be made to the body everything from having an extra arm to having wings.

As a collaboration we then each choose a body part I picked the heart as I find the heart fascinating because its such an important body part you could almost think of it as the engine of the human body.

Initially I drawn up ideas that came to the top of my head such as defibrillators that were portal and connected I then started to do research on the heart by looking at heart conditions and what effects the heart the most.

I found that the biggest problem with the heart is that after heart attacks the heart doesn’t fully repair itself meaning that heart attack victims have a low quality of life upon recovering from heart attacks.

The for mentioned research included several statistics from medical sites such as the nhs website here is an example :”it is estimated that 2.3 million people in the UK are living with CHD and around 2 million people are affected by angina which is the most common symptom of Coronary artery disease”.

So I thought how can I solve this problem ?

Another avenue that I started to explore in the early stages of the project was genetic engineering because I found the things that modern science can do through the use of genetic engineering to be almost infinite almost anything is possible.

Through doing research I found so many interesting experiments that had been conducted using genetic engineering even one that included using Elvis Dna to create Elvis mice.

I found this to be quite compelling so I then looked into animal DNA as I have seen animal DNA being used in many movies about genetic engineering including a spiderman plot.

I looked at several animals and the abilities their genetic code provided and the one that interested me most was the zebra fish which has the ability to regenerate its own heart.

Zebra fish, Photograph: Alamy

I studied the zebra fish and found that scientists discovered that the zebra fish DNA could be used to help repair the human heart by being made into medicine however they won’t fund the project because it would cost around 50 million dollars.

Therefore I decided rather than use the Zebra fish DNA in medicine it could be gene spliced with the human heart so that they can create almost a super heart and work together.

Once I had the idea of gene splicing both hearts I started to work on design ideas which looked at how they could both work together as one heart I developed these ideas throughout the project to get my final design at the end of the project.

After thinking of the Zebra fish Idea I then started to look into cellulose due to it being used in a demonstration by our tutor, I found a link with the cellulose and the zebra fish they both have a regenerative ability.

If you cut a piece of cellulose from a larger sheet it can be used to grow more meaning that it can almost regenerate and repair the lost materiel.

So I began to grow my own cellulose which I could experiment with further during my project.

As a collaborative group we worked together throughout the project when thinking about the display of the end of module exhibition by having many group meetings and Facebook conversations.

The final theme of the exhibition that we decided on was a futuristic body part shop that had white walls almost like that of an apple store aesthetic.

Apple store, Hong Kong, ( business insider )

Once I had developed my final design I then started to create heart sculptures as I knew that I wanted my piece to be an anatomical model which would sit in our futuristic shop exhibition.

Materials that I experimented with when creating my sculptures include:

*clay 

*plaster

*coloured plaster 

*wax

When creating my sculptures I first had to make a two part hot melt jacket mold which was probably the hardest mold I have produced when working in plaster it proved to be a challenge however it was worth it because it meant that I could cast as many sculpture hearts as I needed in a variety of materials.

After casting each heart I would then work into them so that I could get a more finished smooth sculpture the material I liked working in the most was plaster as I found that it was easy to sand and had a solid sculpture.

Plaster is often used in anatomical models however it didn’t really communicate the properties of the heart therefore on my final sculpture I used cellulose as a outer skin which was perfect as cellulose is made from living cells therefore it is more organic like the human heart.

When thinking about how my final sculpture would look I studied places like the hunterian museum which displays specimens in jars I then went on to design my own display jar which my piece would sit in kept to a science lab theme and aesthetic.

Attaching the cellulose to the plaster sculpture- found adding the cellulose to my piece to be the most challenging aspect of my final piece because I had to sew the cellulose onto the plaster like a jacket.

The cellulose proved hard to sew because its has a very rubbery texture and is quite smelly to work with however the finished result gave the effect that I was looking for as it had a very organic look to it.

Thoughts on my final piece 

Here is my finished final piece a human/ zebra fish heart spliced and wrapped in cellulose which has been presented in a glass jar with labels present on the top and bottom of the glass rim.

I think looks spectacular because it has a real eerie look to it and the presentation fits perfectly with the science lab theme, the best thing about the piece in my opinion is that as time passes the cellulose is starting to change colour making it look rotten and old.

Their is also condensation present in the jar because of the moisture that is contained with the cellulose its almost like the cellulose is breathing I think that this really adds a sense of character to the piece.

The thing about the piece that I have created is its psychical appearance appears to be changing as time passes which I find quite interesting what might my piece look like after being in the jar for a month or a year ?

In answer to the for mentioned question only time will tell !!!

In conclusion 

Throughout my being human project I have learnt about several interesting things about genetic science that I wouldn’t have even considered therefore I am extremely happy with the module overall.

I have also developed my skills further in mold making / plaster casting when making anatomical models which is something that I would like to develop further in future projects.

The majority of my research consisted of articles because the things that I am looking into are quite unusual so it was hard to find substantial sources in other formats.

Another key element to the project was working in a collaborative practice which I think was great because we all worked well as a team and managed to pull of a great exhibition which featured all of our worked and discussed what the body might be like in the future.

being human exhibition

Here is the display of our final end of module exhibition for our being human project.

We set the exhibition out in a way that meant you could get a good look at all of the pieces which are positioned in the center of the room they were also placed in rows so you can walk in between the works to get a view from all angles.

As a collective we were quite selective about where we put each piece to make sure that the display meets everyone's needs for example some people in the group wanted their work to be interacted with meaning that they had to have a corner of a table.

Another way that we were selective in the positioning of each piece was we wanted to put body parts that were similar/ had a connection like we put the head near to the brain because the brain is usually found in the human skull.

Additional images of final piece

Final sculpture 

Here is my final piece which consists of a spliced human/zebra fish heart in a glass jar wrapped in cellulose which has been presented on a label on the front face of the jar alongside the number 001.

The White label was inspired by other anatomical models such as the ones presented at the hunterian museum in London However another reason for the labels was the fact that I felt my piece needed more information to give the viewer a clear idea of what the work is about because of its unusual nature.

I didn’t want to give away too much information so I created a title that summed the piece up in the most simple way that anyone could understand and the 001 means that this is the first sculpture to be made.

The Jar is quite condensed due to the moisture which is present in the cellulose this makes my sculpture harder to see because you have to take a close look into the jar to see beyond the fog.

Although it makes the sculpture less visible I really like the condensation of the jar as it adds character to the piece and makes you realise that the cellulose is living material.

It will be quite interesting to see what will happen to the jar as time passes because in only a few days the piece has condensed considerably so what might my piece look like in a year ?

one of my favorite things about the piece would be the aesthetic that the waterproof sandy coloured tape provides it puts enthuses on the science lab theme that I am trying to communicate even the colour is reminiscent of Bunsen burners and really compliments the glass well.

Including the making of the sculpture the piece has taken around 2 months to make which is reasonable considering the amount of processes I had to undertake in order to get the desired effect.

Overall I am content with the look and finish of the piece because it communicates the theme perfectly and is very well made considering that I haven’t made an anatomical piece before.

Now that I had made my glass jar and added my plaster sculpture to a metal rod in the center and my cellulose was ready I began to construct the final sculpture.

The first stage of making my sculpture was to sew the cellulose onto the plaster piece I started by gathering several pieces of dry cellulose and I then used small pins to keep the cellulose tight so I could begin to sew.

Initially I wore gloves when sewing the cellulose however this made it hard to sew because the texture of the glove made it difficult to feel the needle so after a while I took the gloves off and finished the rest of the sewing without gloves.

Cellulose as a material is quite rubbery meaning that sewing into the material took considerable time however sewing was the only viable option when attaching the cellulose to the sculpture I did try other options such as superglue.

Superglue didn’t work as the cellulose has a shiny texture meaning the superglue couldn’t bond with the plaster.

I used larger pieces of cellulose than I needed and then trimmed the excess off later then once the cellulose was attached I then went back and re-sewn into the stitches so that I could make sure that the stitches were strong.

Once the cellulose was added to the sculpture I then started to paint on the attached zebra fish heart that is positioned at the back of the piece this once again proved difficult because of the texture of the material paint wouldn’t stick either.

I solved the paint problem by mixing the paint with pva glue to make the paint thicker however a few coats still needed to be added.

After the piece had been sewn and painted I then added another coat of pva to the entire outer skin of the cellulose just to give the piece an additional layer.

Then my sculpture was ready to be filled with water and sealed, at this point I am very happy with the sewn sculpture and I feel very optimistic about the finished piece.

When beginning to sew the cellulose to the sculpture I wasn’t very confident as I hadn’t really sewn anything before but I think all things considered I did a good job as the cellulose is neatly sewn and extremely strong.

Also the cellulose isn’t very pleasant and is difficult to work with however the final finish gives an old rotting look which is the effect that I want for my anatomical body part making the process rewarding and worth doing.

I have taken precautions ready for when the jar is filled with water to make the piece water tight which included varnishing the under layer of wood, white silicone coating around the inner plastic ring and I have also purchased some waterproof tape for the outside of the jar.

Disaster: After adding water to the jar and sealing my sculpture inside I found that the glass jar magnified the heart in the center of the glass meaning that the heart looked stretched.

I didn’t like the magnified effect of my sculpture because it doesn’t really look like a heart anymore due to the fact it has become stretched therefore I decided to remove the water from the jar.

Upon deciding that I would present my sculpture in a glass jar I then realized that my work is quite unorthodox to the average everyday person therefore I will have to add a label of some kind to give the viewer a small indication of what my work is about.

Although I will add a label to my work I would not give away too much information I may even just include the name of the piece.

When thinking about artworks that are in a similar style to that of my piece in terms of their unorthodox nature I have studied the Hunterian Museum which displays “Grisly history of surgery and medicine with gruesome instruments and preserved specimens”.

The image was sourced from the following website: http://www.theculturemap.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/foetus-Hunterian-Museum-London.jpg 

Above is an example of some specimens that can be found on display at the hunterian museum they are what look to be human fetus's suspended in glass they have a very sinister look to them.

What I like most about the specimens is the way they have been displayed especially the ones in the Jar which look quite similar to my final sculpture.The labels are also quite interesting although simple which is the effect that I am looking for when labeling my pieces.

The labels are both of a perfect size and font meaning that they don’t take the attention away from the pieces in the jar whilst still keeping to the theme of the specimens.Whereas if bright/bold colours and fonts had been used they wouldn’t really fit with whats being presented. 

The Hunterian Museum London.

Above are some more examples of work from the hunterian museum which have also been labeled in the same way.

I like the brain pieces because I find the brain to be one of the most important and interesting parts of the body yet we never get to see it. The gallery is allowing people to study the body through anatomical models which provide more information about how things look and function than a sketch ever can.

I like the fact that you can see the raw pink pastel colours and membranes of the brain right up close its spectacular yet a bit gross and to me that’s what the hunterian collection is about even the name of the exhibition ‘curiosities’ suggests so.

From looking at the hunterian museum I have gained more insight on how other anatomical models are displayed and I will consider using a similar labeling system for my anatomical heart sculpture.

Eliza Bennett is an artist that creates her art by sewing into her own skin an example of this can be seen in the image directly below where she has sewn a pattern into her hand.

www.elizabennett.co.uk- sewn hand images

The artist says:  "By using the technique of embroidery, which is traditionally employed to represent femininity and applying it to the expression of its opposite, I hope to challenge the pre-conceived notion that 'women's work' is light and easy. Aiming to represent the effects of hard work arising from employment in low paid 'ancillary' jobs, such as cleaning, caring and catering, all traditionally considered to be 'women's work'."

I find the sewn hand pieces to be extremely interesting and quite beautiful but for me it also has connotations of pain because I have felt a sewing needle pierce the skin so to sew into the hand to that extent I can imagine it must have been immensely painful.

Adding cellulose skin to plaster heart

Above is an image which shows me sewing the cellulose onto my plaster sculpture, the reason for the cellulose layer is to communicate the regenerative properties that the cellulose has, the fact that it looks like a skin that is about to shed emphasizes this even further because many reptiles shred their skin to produce new skin cells.

I choose to sew the cellulose to the sculpture because other methods don’t work when trying glue on the cellulose it doesn't stick because of the moisture the cellulose contains. Another method I could have tried was to leave the wet cellulose to dry around the sculpture but there wasn't any guarantee that it would take the shape of the heart because its quite a complex shape.

I quite like the effect that sewing the sculpture provides as it has a Frankenstein look to it like a science experiment that went wrong and I quite like that it makes the piece look more interesting in my opinion.

“The moulting of the skin occurs regularly, when oldskin is outgrown. In the case of snakes, it is called shedding or ecdysis. Snakes will rub against rough surfaces to shed their skin. A shed skin is much longer than the snake that shed it, as the skin covers the top and bottom of each scale”.

Snake skin image - http://www.warrenphotographic.co.uk

So by adding the cellulose because of its properties and the snake skin look this means that my heart encourages regeneration in almost all aspects, the zebra fish heart, snake skin reference and the cellulose all provide a link to the word regeneration.

However the skin look was more than a subconscious decision I didn’t just choose it because it had a snake skin look but the human skin also has a connection to the heart.

In a recent article scientists have discovered that human skin can be turned into beating heart cells which can encourage regeneration.

for-mentioned article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/stem-cells-skin-brain-heart-disease-alzheimers-parkinsons-regeneration-salamanders-newts-a7006476.html

The article talks about human skin cells being transplanted into a mouses heart and 97 % of the cells started beating its said that these methods of reprogramming human skin tissue could “ be used for cell replacement therapy in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease”.

I find the fact that human skin can be used to create beating heart cells to be completely fascinating all the time scientists are making breakthroughs in the field of genetic engineering and I believe that this will play a big part in the future of our society.

Plaster sculpture 2 

After my first attempt at casting my plaster heart was less successful due to a weak plaster mix causing parts of the piece to break away from the sculpture I then decided to recast the sculpture with a better consistency of plaster to see if I could get a better result.

The images above show my finished plaster sculpture which has been dried out and sanded thoroughly to get the desired smooth / high quality finish.

I am extremely happy with this second cast because it’s a lot stronger therefore the top sections of the mold didn’t break. I am also happy with the finish because it is very smooth and through reworking the piece out of the cast I have been able to reintroduce the finer details which the mold wouldn’t allow for due to the properties of vinyl.

I have chosen plaster as a casting material for my heart even though hearts are normally made from more malleable organic materials which exist inside the body.

During the making of this plaster sculpture I feel that I have grown as an artist as I have developed further skills in sculpting which include making a two part vinyl jacket mold,mixing plaster and I have also developed skills when working into the plaster.

I now feel more confident in mold making and I think that I could re-use these skills to make more molds in the future.

The reason that I have chose plaster is due to the fact that my piece will be purely for visuals it will be used as a display piece which will give the customer in our futuristic shop an idea of the body part that they are buying.

My plaster sculpture if used in my final piece will be displayed in a jar and will be shown to be wrapped in cellulose and pickled which will give the illusion to the customer that the heart is real.

Imagine it like walking into a phone shop they often have fake phones on show to give the consumer an idea of what they are buying it is the same principal it will be showcased in our shop where the customer can order their hearts.

Gunther Von Hagens is an anatomist who invented plastination which is a technique used to preserve bodies.

Gunther Von Hagens work is currently being displayed at the Menschen Museum in Berlin over a 20 year period Von Hagens exhibitions have been visited by 40 million people.

The human body is fascinating Von Hagens work has changed exhibitions making artists and curators question how extraordinary they can make their exhibits. I feel like most exhibitions only display work that is safe but that kind of approach the modern art world has taken doesn’t really satisfy peoples curiosity like the Von Hagens exhibits do.

Plastination technique : http://www.memu.berlin/en/interesting-facts/plastination-technique/

Bellow are a set of images taken at the exhibition in Berlin, Credit : Hannah Elliot.

The body above is one of the most interesting in my opinion it looks to be showing the way in which the blood is pumped around the body the red strands are quite reminiscent of filament used in the 3-d pen.

I like the fact that the bones are still visible so the piece still gives you an accurate representation of the human body but it does it in a creative way.

When displaying his work Von Hagens often displays the bodies in a pose and sometimes reflects what that person done when they were alive for example the body below was probably a high jumper.

The body pose gives the viewer a better idea of how the body moves when creating different shape/poses which is something we cant see when we are alive so it helps us to understand the human body better.

Here are some cards that are displayed within the galleries which were written by the people who donate their bodies.

Their is something quite eerie about the exhibition in my opinion especially the fact that these were once living people however they have a slogan which says “there are 7 billion people on the earth, all different yet all the same”.

By donating their bodies it means that rather than be forgotten about they get to be seen in a gallery almost like a tribute to who they used to be in that respect it is wonderful.

Also donating the bodies help scientists to conduct experiments so that they can learn more about the human body meaning that it will benefit the living so really what Von Hagens is doing is benefiting everyone. 

Von Hagens exhibits relates to the work that I am creating in my current project as my piece will also be an anatomical model except I wont be using real human body parts.  Also sometimes Von Hagens uses the specimens to make modifications in order to make the bodies better which is also the aim for our project.

Cellulose progression after three weeks

After leaving my cellulose to ferment in the tea and sugar for three weeks I took away the cling film so that I could see if the cellulose had grown.

The cellulose had grown to a good thickness which I was quite surprised about because I couldn't really see any visible results until recently because of the dark colour of the tea which was due to adding more tea bags than necessary.

One significant feature of the cellulose is it’s distinct foul smell which it produces. A vinegary smell which is probably due to the fermentation which has taken place over the last few weeks.

Final design

Above is the final design which includes a glass jar with a wooden bottom base that will have an overall science theme which will present the look of an anatomical model.

I have chosen this as my final design as I like the way that it is presented on a metal rod at eye level which will make the piece easy for the user to viewer from every angle.

The heart is a combination of a human heart and zebra fish heart just like in previous designs the zebra fish heart will be able to be seen from the back of the model.

Also I will sew cellulose to the plaster sculpture so that It gives the heart a skin that fits in with the regeneration theme because cellulose is a living material that also has regenerative properties.

During my latest project I have been working as part of team to change the human body by redesigning it to make it better we each choose a separate body part and they will then be presented as part of an exhibition at Birmingham open media gallery.

The theme of our display is a futuristic shop where body parts can be bought when thinking about future shops I think of pure white walls with varnished wooden desks.

The white colour scheme also ties in with the lab theme that we have running through our work because of the fact that we are focusing on the body and genetic engineering.

Apple Store in Hong Kong (Image Credit: Business Insider)

An example of the look that we are hoping to communicate can be seen within the apple store aesthetic, glass windows, pure white walls and wooden tables it gives the store a modern futuristic feel which gets away from the industrial machine processes that the technology they sell communicates.

Another reason for having this clean look would be the fact that we are creating a body part shop and people wouldn't want to buy body parts from a bleak looking place the white walls signify hygiene and cleanliness.