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When used colloquially, the phrase “paradigm shift” refers to a change — often radical — in shared perception. According to Wikipedia, historian of science Thomas Kuhn conceived of “paradigm shift” as a “scientific revolution.” The current exhibition at Heights Arts, which includes work by Michelle M. Murphy and Angela Oster, reflects both characterizations of this concept, as the artists delve into the arenas of scientific inquiry and the culture wars, or, more pointedly, the battle over how the contemporary and future American Weltanschauung, or worldview, is to be constructed.
Both Murphy and Oster address the evolving ethical realm of science and technology using simplistic imagery and, in Oster’s case, sculptural forms. In the exhibition brochure, Oster describes her aesthetic as indicative of “extreme youth, vulnerability, harmlessness and need.” Her drawings and sculptures are centered on fetal development, especially the period when the fetus has, as she states, “a little tail and flippers.” Her Baby Bait series includes three cartoon-like fetus sculptures, which hang playfully — almost mobile-like — in a corner of the gallery. The figures are hung at various angles so that each one reveals a different view of the beings’ bodies; it is as if they are floating in a nebulous sea of amniotic fluid. Their faces are fleshy white, while their bodies are covered in infant pajama-like garments in bright blue, aqua and green, which appear to be custom-made for their fishlike tails and fins.
Oster is clearly inspired by characters of Japanese anime, as the floating fetuses have big Hello Kitty eyes and broad, round faces with small mouths and noses. Yet as cute and innocuous as these fetus creatures seem, Oster’s rendering of them as growing, evolving humans alludes to the ubiquitous debate over evolution. The artist states, “The evolution debate is being waged in the context of children’s education…[my interest] is where we are going as a species, rather than where we came from.”
Oster’s Evolution Wear series includes several miniature, hand-tailored garments for fetuses. Intricately sewn, trimmed in lace, with matching bonnets, the tiny clothing sets are politically charged and drenched in cultural critique. Given our society’s baby mania, which translates into shopping for babies even before they are born, the Evolution Wear garments do not seem to be all that farfetched. And, on a much less satirical note, this work is reflective of what Rosalind Pollack Petchesky, a professor of political science and women’s studies at Hunter College, has termed the construction of the fetus as “an icon, person, or public personality.” In the abortion debate, when a fetus is framed as a being that is or can exist separately from a woman’s body, it can be contextualized as an autonomous, “individual” worthy of patriarchal protection. In creating fashions for fetuses, Oster has unwittingly contributed to the dialogue surrounding “fetal identity.”
Murphy’s engagement with science is informed by her admiration for “transgenic artist” Eduardo Kac (who is most famous for genetically engineering a neon-green bunny), as well as her day job as a photographer at NASA, and her wily ability to use gorgeously rendered drawings to simply but patently describe genetic modification and bio-engineering processes. The body of work in Paradigm Shift is titled Bio Steel!, and is based on a process where genes from spider web/silk were spliced with Nigerian dwarf goat’s milk to create a super-strong weave-able material called Bio Steel. Murphy’s work requires extensive scientific research, and she is especially interested in the ways disparate materials — like spider silk and goat’s milk — are combined to create high-tech materials for the “betterment” of humanity.
In an animated film, Murphy demonstrates how scientists used the genes of a flounder to create a tough-skinned tomato. Using her characteristically spare yet colorful drawing style, the artist visually describes the process, representatively morphing the fish into a ripe red tomato. Accompanying the visuals is an upbeat soundtrack, which was also created by Murphy. Compared to the film, drawings such as GM Wheat, which depicts a strand of wheat, two insects, and text that reads, “wheat that repels insects,” seem overly didactic. The artist is at her best when her visual commentary on genetic modification and biotechnology is multilayered. For instance, her photo puzzles depicting digitally altered images of fantastic animals such as a hog with brightly hued parrot wings, simply but effectively evoke the often-used reference to genes as “building blocks.” The puzzle images, which are Photoshopped to look intentionally fake, are witty and ironic. The underlying message: If scientists and engineers can extract genes from a flounder to make thick-skinned tomatoes, it may not be long before pigs really can fly.
What is most compelling about
Paradigm Shift are the ways in which Oster and Murphy unknowingly put
forth a sense of trepidation and alienation while addressing the scientific
revolution that we are in the midst of. Oster’s vulnerable fetal
drawings and sculptures are endearing in an extraterrestrial sort of
way; they portray a sense of apprehension around the ethical issues
and debates surrounding evolution, stem-cell research and cloning. And,
as pragmatic as Murphy’s subject matter and artwork seems, the
drawing-narration style she employs in creating it is unabashedly low-tech.
At this moment in history, our “progress” as a species seems
tenuous at best. This dubiousness is inherently felt in the artistic
techniques and processes exemplified in Paradigm Shift.