The Spatial Information Architecture Lab, RMIT, Melbourne
| 1/4 SCALE EAR |
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| Ear and arm scan and animation done by SIAL - The Spatial Information Architecture Lab, RMIT, Melbourne |
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A different strategy is now being pursued in attempting to realize the EXTRA EAR project. In collaboration with Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr of Tissue Culture & Art a 1/4 scale replica of my ear has been grown using human cells. The ear is cultured in a rotating micro-gravity bioreactor which allows the cells to grow in a 3D structure. The ear will be fed with nutrients every 3-4 days in a sterile hood. Once the ear can be grown with my own bone marrow cells it would be possible to insert it beneath the skin of the forearm as a first step to construct an ear on the arm. The skin of the forearm is smooth and would adequately stretch without the necessity of any inflating prosthesis. The ear on the arm could be constructed with less complex surgical intervention. And disconnected from the face, the ear on the arm could be guided and pointed in different directions. |
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| Scans and Scaled-down Ear - Oron Catts |
Photographs - Ionat Zurr
The 1/4 SCALE EAR is about 2 collaborative concerns. The project represents a recognizable human part and is meant to be ultimately attached to the body as a soft prosthesis. However it is being presented as partial life and brings into question the notions of the wholeness of the body. It also confronts society's cultural perceptions of life with the increasing ability to manipulate living systems. Tissue Culture & Art are dealing with the ethical and perceptual issues stemming from the realization that living tissue can be sustained, grown and is able to function outside of the body. The prosthesis is now a partial life form - partly constructed and partly alive.
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There have been three 1/4 Scale Ear installations done with TC&AP:
-Galerija Kapelica, 13-20 May 2003, Ljubljana, Slovenia The project was realized in collaboration with SymbioticA, at the University of Western Australia, in Perth and with Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr of the the Tissue Culture and Art Project |
