"In Vitro"

Year: 2014–2015

Authors: Andrea Santini & Francesca Sarah Toich (UBIKteatro).

In Vitro is a miniature holographic video installation in which human and plant forms are generated and dissolved “in vitro” from the same particles of projected light. A video projection is micro‑mapped onto a small laboratory test‑tube rack, where the combination of liquid, glass curvature and rear‑projection film gives the images an almost holographic presence.

Within the vials, a series of female figures and plant forms appear, explore the confines of their container, display different degrees of awareness and agency, and sometimes re‑materialise as one another. The work is inspired by developments in genetic engineering and genomics, and does not offer answers or a fixed position, but implicitly raises questions about the motivations and consequences that drive this research.

Selected presentations / circulation:

• NYX – Sogni di una notte digitale, Palazzo Chiericati, Vicenza (IT), 10 May – 7 June 2015 – exhibition of UBIKteatro installations.

• Kinetica Museum – GRAVITY, The Hospital Club, Covent Garden, London (UK), 29 Oct – 1 Nov 2015 – In Vitro and Volupta video installations.

• The Independent Artist Fair (TIAF), Rag Factory, Brick Lane, London (UK), 14–18 Oct 2015 – In Vitro video installation.

• InShadow – Lisbon ScreenDance Festival, Galeria Belas-Artes, Faculdade de Belas-Artes, Lisbon (PT) – holographic installations including In Vitro (as documented by UBIK / Kinetica posts).