Embryonic Section Paintings

davidkremers
paraxial mesoderm, 1992

agar, x-gal, iptg, neutral red n-2880, ecoli tb-1, synthetic resin on acrylic plate
24 x 24 inches

david kremers 1
©davidkremers1992

abstract

given evolution as a step of physiology based intelligence.
method paintings are grown on plates of clear acrylic using bacteria genetically engineered to produce enzymes of various colors after maturation, the plates are dried and sealed in a synthetic resin the figurative subjects are chosen from embryonic structures common to all mammals.
q e d life is organization rather than substance. consciousness is inherent in the way molecules are organized, not in the substance of the molecules themselves.


visceral arch, 1992

gesso, eosin y, agar, x-gal, iptg, ecoli tb-1, plasmid, alizarin red-s, synthetic resin on acrylic plate
24 x 24 inches

David Kremers 2
©davidkremers1992

‘in 1992 i began growing paintings from bacteria on plates of clear acrylic, using bacteria that was genetically engineered to produce enzymes of various colors. itís like painting on a piece of ice with melted snow. after eighteen hours in an incubation chamber the image grows into the shapes and colors the bacteria and i have collaborated on. the plates are then dried and sealed in a synthetic resin. future conservators, a millenium away, may remove the resin, feed the bacteria, and continue the life of the work. the figurative subjects were chosen from early embryonic structures common to all mammals. evolution as a step of physiology-based intelligence’.