Entangled Entities at The New Gallery

installation with sensory experiences exploring interspecies entanglement through networked devices and tactile sculpture
Solo Exhibition

Entangled Entities at The New Gallery

February 22–March 26, 2021
The New Gallery
Austin Peay State University
Clarksville, TN
Curated by Michael Dickins

Exhibition Catalog With Essay by Hannah Star Rogers

Entangled Entities is an immersive installation including molecular animation with sound, participatory tactile sculptures and networked devices exploring remote sensing and interspecies entanglements in the biotechnological landscape. Drawing upon artifacts of biotechnological modes of production ranging from machines to animals, the work explores the expanded industrial apparatus that intertwines science and culture. The installation situates images of the coronavirus, among other artworks that incorporate artifacts of non-human species who are used for antibody production for human vaccines. The exhibition features a multi-channel animation that was created using molecular visualization software and SARS-CoV-2 protein models. The animation is accompanied by an immersive soundscape inspired by the coronavirus genetic sequence. A series of networked laboratory mixers are activated by social media activity relating to the contested status of science. A data-driven fan adjusts based on the wind conditions at a biological laboratory in rural Pennsylvania. A rug made from the hand-spun wool of laboratory llamas and alpacas invites viewers to sit while listing to a voyeuristic sound collage of recordings made in a biotech laboratory. Together, these artworks destabilize notions of the presence and absence of bodies, evoking the mutability of categories that delineate their status, unpacking constructions of self and other. The themes in Entangled Entities, including viruses, vaccines, and interconnected systems, are especially timely in this unique moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, framing complex biomedical issues with provocations of curiosity and wonder.

Entangled Entities is an immersive installation including molecular animation with sound, participatory tactile sculptures and networked devices exploring remote sensing and interspecies entanglements in the biotechnological landscape. Drawing upon artifacts of biotechnological modes of production ranging from machines to animals, the work explores the expanded industrial apparatus that intertwines science and culture. The installation situates images of the coronavirus, among other artworks that incorporate artifacts of non-human species who are used for antibody production for human vaccines. The exhibition features a multi-channel animation that was created using molecular visualization software and SARS-CoV-2 protein models. The animation is accompanied by an immersive soundscape inspired by the coronavirus genetic sequence. A series of networked laboratory mixers are activated by social media activity relating to the contested status of science. A data-driven fan adjusts based on the wind conditions at a biological laboratory in rural Pennsylvania. A rug made from the hand-spun wool of laboratory llamas and alpacas invites viewers to sit while listing to a voyeuristic sound collage of recordings made in a biotech laboratory. Together, these artworks destabilize notions of the presence and absence of bodies, evoking the mutability of categories that delineate their status, unpacking constructions of self and other. The themes in Entangled Entities, including viruses, vaccines, and interconnected systems, are especially timely in this unique moment of the COVID-19 pandemic, framing complex biomedical issues with provocations of curiosity and wonder.

"…Splan’s art does more than communicate or comment on science...by taking the tools and materials of science in imaginative directions that reveal how these technical means might be used in “otherwise” ways which would lead to different kinds of knowledge production: sometimes purely aesthetic, sometimes diversionary or other times provocative, and universally reflective…"
— Hannah Star Rogers, Otherwise Ways of Knowing: Art & Biology in the work of Laura Splan, essay for exhibition catalog for Entangled Entities
"…There are so many words that describe the work of Laura Splan – intelligent, beautiful, cohesive, and blissfully poetic...the simple beauty and crispness of Splan’s work encourage the viewer to discover the multi-layered conceptuality that is the pillar of 'Entangled Entities'. This exhibition merges Science and Art with work that is heavily-researched, technologically driven, conceptually intelligent, and aesthetically beautiful..."
— Michael Dickins, Curator's Introduction for exhibition catalog for Entangled Entities

...Interdisciplinarity is the foundation on which artist Laura Splan conceives her work...Through her practice, science is moved out of the laboratories while keeping its axioms and experiments present...A number of its mechanisms are paralleled with the cultural dynamics that inhabit our everyday lives, putting a magnifying glass on the interconnections that exist between diverse fields of knowledge...

CLOT
Giulia Ottavia Frattini

...Laura Splan spent three months in 2020 collaborating with Integral Molecular scientists Dr. Benjamin Doranz and Dr. Edgar Davidson over Zoom to produce her series...created using Pymol to visualize intricate molecular models of SARS-CoV-2. Splan explains that “by using the specialized features of the software in unconventional ways, I unravel and distort the folded structure of the coronavirus spike protein. I playfully manipulate the folded forms...

Interalia: Meeting Points
Angela McQuillan

...With the coronavirus outbreak, people worldwide have become preoccupied with a threat so physically small that it can’t be seen. The invisible world of viruses has long fascinated multi-media artist Laura Splan, who is artist in residence at a biotech lab...

Voice of America
Matt Dibble
The New Gallery at APSU
Austin Peay State University
Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts
Association of Academic Museums and Galleries

Project Support provided by The New Gallery, Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, uCity Science Center Bioart Residency, Integral Molecular, Esther Klein Gallery, Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, Knight Foundation, Lampire Biological Laboratories, BioBAT Art Space, Harvestworks, Institute for Electronic Arts, subnetAIR, Schmiede, NEW INC

Additional project, research, creative, and production support provided by Michael Dickins, Dax Robertson, Tobias Layman, Katie Boyer, Reuben Lorch-Miller, Frank Musarra, Angela McQuillan, Ben Doranz, Edgar Davidson, Frank Masciocchi, Joe Rucker, Thomas Charpentier, Elena Soterakis, Jeannine Bardo, Genspace (Beth Tuck, Daniel Fried), Laura Forlano, Fiona Raby, Alana Conner, Billy Renkl, Tobi Schmidt, Yukako Satone, Textile Arts Center, Smart Digital Solutions (Hal Scharfman, Peter Papa), Precision Engraving (Mike Kleinschmidt), Canal Plastics (Eva Chen)