The Link Between Bio- and Technology
‘And the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground.’ Genesis II:7
Adamah.com? is the name of one of the most enthralling and monumental art installations of the post-modern era. The Hebrew אדם, stands for the biblical Adam, 'man'. אדמה 'Adamah' stands for 'earth’. By combining the two and concluding with a question mark a host of questions regarding humanity’s relationship – past, present, future – with its ever-changing, often man-made, global physical environment is addressed. How will new technology affect the meaning of human life? And what is in store for (what Genesis describes as) the Creator’s favored creation?
What is the future of mankind? Is it, ‘…from dust you came and to dust you shall return’, or is it, perhaps, ‘…from a petri dish you came and to a petri dish you shall return’.
Technology, which assists man in coping with his surroundings helping him to reach moments of greater pleasure with less effort, is that which undermines the existing balance in nature, causing irreversible damage.
Dafna Margolin – is an ecological artist who was one of the pioneers in this area in Israel. She started her path in drawing and collage which focused on the equation, technology vs. ecology. In her present work, she is not content with the two-dimensional and creates a surrounding in which there are a number of displays. But this time she draws our attention to the link between technology and the very existence of man - in other words, genetic engineering - and questions of genetics versus the environment and their importance for the fate of the whole of mankind.
Is the aim of sophisticated man to bring DNA to eternal bodily and spiritual life? Is this a possibility? All these questions, resulting in the creation of this display, will almost certainly continue to echo in space and bring humanity …………… to where?
Gene Garden
Gene Garden is a digital garden in which we move through this virtual world on our way to the entrance: the absorption of growth. It examines human evolution and its potentials, as well as the dangers of genetic engineering. It considers not only natural evolution but also ventures into the science of genetic modification. It seeks to bridge the gap between the rational and the emotional.
Gene Garden: 11’ 1¾” length x 7’ 10½” width x 11¾” height,
(Metric: 3.40 l. x 2.40 w. x .30 h.)
Wombrain
Wombrain explores humanity’s reluctance to depart from its known childhood landscapes and venture forth into an ever-changing and humanly manipulated environment. The installation gently, yet provocatively, brings us through the digital entrance and touches on the life-giving process and the subsequent fears of the unknown and of alienation.
The cosmic womb is the eternal aspiration to become one with our own birth. In this intimate experience we return to the beginning, to the moment in which everything is still possible - the original pre-existence - and to the question, ‘to what kind of world are we headed?’ The womb serves as a source of internal incubation, hatching and digesting experiences, as opposed to the brain, accumulating information in real time and encompassing dimensional existence. The era of innocence soon ends, when the baby has a gas mask put over its head and given a bottle of mineral water.
A series of ‘mixers’ demonstrate the apparently chance formation which will perhaps be possible to determine in the not-too-distant future. Possibly then the important questions will arise, such as: What is a desired appearance? What are wanted abilities? Who will be in charge of the potential choices?
Wombrain: 8’ 2½” height x 12’ 1½” width x 6’ 10¾” radius,
(Metric: 2.50 h. x 3.70 w. x 2.10 radius)
Digital entry: 6’ 6 ¾ “ long x 2’ 7 ½ “ wide x 5 7/8 “ high,
(Metric: 2. l x .80 w x .15 h)
Genetic Mixer
The Genetic Mixer reflects the close interaction between cultures and peoples and between materialism and spirituality. The global village creates a humanity which blends contrast and unites differences.
Genetic Mixer: 8’ 4” h. x 8’ 2½”(w/mirrors open) x 5’ 3” x 1’ 11 5/8”(base),
(Metric: 2.54 h. x 2.50-with mirrors open x 1.60 x .60-base)
Human Sandglass
Human Sandglass reminds us that the period of existence is limited. Various colored sands unite into a plasma which is common to all of us – the earth at our feet and the blood that flows in our veins – when we peel off the outer shell of culture, language, science and technology, and return to the earth upon which we stand as a single living organism, responsible for the future of mankind.
Human Sandglass: 2’ 8¼” l. x 5’ 10” h. x 2’ 4”,
(Metric: .82 length x 1.78 height x .71 width)
Genetic Facycle
Genetic Facycle is a genetic reproduction in which the DNA revolves and in it the future – which is loaned to us, raising questions – all of it in a giant test tube, reflected in a mirror in which we see ourselves duplicated.
Genetic Facycle: 5' 33/4" height x 2' 6" body width / 1' 8 7/8" diameter,
(Metric: 1.62 height x .76 body width / wheel .53 diameter)
Solar Genomat
Solar Genomat is an apparatus for choosing genes, determining the possibilities for choice. Physical and mental properties are for sale. Spare parts or far-fetched possibilities, such as the renewal of the senses, suddenly do not seem imaginary.
Solar Genomat: 7’ 2 5/8” height x 3’ 10½” width,
(Metric: 2.20 h. x 1.18 w.)
Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel is a cultural mixer in which religions, folklore, nourishment, money, science and hi-tech dwell in simultaneous mixture in a hanging spiral construction, versus tribalism and the remnants of talismen. The options of choice are: loss of identity versus unidentifiable identity.
Tower of Babel: 3’ 10½” h. x 2’ 2¾” diam (at lowest) / 1’ 3¾” diam (at highest point),
(Metric: 1.18 height x .68 diam. at lowest / .40 at highest)
Reincarnation
The last work illustrates the transition from pre-birth through technological interventions to the wish to memorialize the purpose and length of life. The figure is wrapped in muslin suspended between heaven and earth. The head is lit under the covering and above it a plant which symbolizes the bronchii which transport the oxygen of life.
Reincarnation: 7’ 10½” l. x 1’ 7¾”,
(Metric: 2.40 l. x .50)
Material Spirit
The Balance Between The Material and The Spiritual. Here we can see where we are headed: the continuing march of mounting technology versus the emergence of the human spirit.
Material Spirit: 9’ 4¼” long x 2’ 11½” wide x 3’ 3 3/8” high,
(Metric: 2.85 l. x .90 w. x 1.00 h.)
