Video: Glass Microbiology by Luke Gerrem
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
We all remember from our school biology course that viruses reproduce themselves relatively quickly. But for glassblowers working with British sculptor Luke Jerram, the process of recreating bacteria was not at all as easy as it might seem at first, as they had to blow models of pests magnified thousands of times out of glass.
The idea of creating such sculptures came to the artist after many hours spent at the microscope observing the world of a microorganism. Luke drew attention to the fact that in nature, viruses do not look exactly the way they are portrayed in the media. And it's primarily about color, because viruses are often artificially stained for scientific purposes. Luke was haunted by the question: how many people actually believe that viruses are bright and colorful in nature? And how does the fact of their coloring and the choice of colors for these purposes affect our perception of these microorganisms? In an attempt to answer these questions, the artist created a series of transparent three-dimensional sculptures.
In addition, glass sculptures were created, firstly, in order to make viewers think about diseases and their global impact. Jerrem explores the tension between the artistic beauty of viruses and what they really are, what harm they do to humanity.
With the advice of a virologist at the University of Bristol and the help of three glassblowers, Luke created 22 sculptures of seven viruses and one bacterium. Among them are viruses such as HIV, smallpox, Escherichia coli, SARS, and swine flu.
Of course, the most interesting for the author was the reaction of the audience. Here, for example, the words of one of them: "It is a very strange feeling to see your enemy and the possible cause of your death and at the same time admire his beauty."
Luke Jerrem is a multidisciplinary artist from Bristol (UK), his areas of interest include sculpture, installations, various art projects.
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