Xenograft - 2012 (Submission for Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award - ISC)

As in much of my current work, Xenograft brings together the physical and the virtual, the skin/surface as a form of boundary, and the participation of the viewer in determining the precise details in the video realization.

In Xenograft, 365 hollow wax miniature pigs are aligned in concentric circles, facing the same direction and radiating outwards. The hollow forms represent a void, an empty shell, or a vessel in need of filling and becomes host to the projected digital imagery. The wax membrane of each pig thus acts as the site of action on a number of levels. The circular platform acts as a substrate to the mass of pigs just as a pee-tree dish is to a culture grown in a lab. The mass replication of pigs speaks to a new practice of mass breeding GM pigs used for human organ transplants; a process known as Xenografts. Here, scale is important as it engages our desire for the object. Xenograft seduces the viewer, and beckons one closer. The disc is suspended as to heighten the sense of accessibility; brought to a working height the pigs are within reach. Each pig may represent a possible beacon of hope for someone in need of a xenotransplant, yet simultaneously raises the moral and ethical issues of breading pigs for specific purposes. Xenograft thus rests in a state of oscillation, both seductive and challenging.

Nicolas de Cosson

Situated farther within; an inner door, an interior. Private and secret are the inner workings of the organism and the machine; hidden and obscure are their inner meaning. At times the mind is chaotic and unsettled, yet we may find peace in steady breath on our outward journey from the centre. Each step along the labyrinth brings us closer to resolution.

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