Biomorphic installations by Annelisa Phobis

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

"Only the process of change made evolution possible" - this statement of Hegel fits perfectly as an epigraph to the work of Anneliese Vobis. Any of her installations is a study and interpretation of the life cycles of biological organisms, through which the author tries to understand and study "the innermost depths of his own being."

Nature is the main source of inspiration for Anneliese, who was born in Germany and now lives in the United States. Melting, crystallization, growth - any of these processes can form the basis for the next installation by the author. For example, the work "Radiolarian Ooze" is devoted to the breakdown of microorganisms, which are subsequently transformed into siliceous rocks. “Nothing is wasted in nature,” says Anneliese. - Everything is being formed into new structures. For people, the opposite is true: the consumed plastic does not disappear anywhere, forming, perhaps, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

In the installation Biomimicry, Annelisa Phobis depicts an artificial utopian reef and addresses the topic of coral bleaching, which is now the main cause of their death, as well as other serious stresses that can lead to the extinction of corals.

"Hybrid Organisms" are creatures created by Annelisa that are in the middle between the worlds of botany and zoology. Green hybrids that resemble elephants, hamsters and hedgehogs are part bacteria, part plants, part animals. Thus, the author hints at active human intervention in the natural world, including at the genetic level, and says that such an activity without due responsibility can lead to the most unexpected and even disastrous results.