2003/2008
Transgenic work (plantimal with the artist’s DNA expressed only in the red veins of the flower)
Eduardo Kac
The central work in the Natural History of the Enigma series is a plantimal, a new life form created by Eduardo Kac and that he calls ”Edunia”, a genetically-engineered flower that is a hybrid of the artist and Petunia. The Edunia expresses Kac’s DNA exclusively in its red veins. The new flower was invented by and produced by the artist through molecular biology. It is not found in nature.
Artist bio:
Since the early 1980s, Kac has pioneered new art forms to create art that explores the limits of locality, light, language and life. From his anticipatory holopoetry to his current biopoetry, from his telepresence works to his ongoing bio art, Kac has continuously broken new ground. His work has progressively focused on the relationships among and between humans, machines, animals, and other life forms. Kac uses communication processes, biological life, and digital networks to create works that explore fundamental human experiences such as the fluidity of language, dialogical interaction and awareness of our relative place in the larger community of life. Kac’s work is exhibited internationally at museums and biennials such as Maison Européenne de la Photographie, Paris; Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai; Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis; Institute of Modern Art, Valencia, Spain; Yokohama Triennale, Japan; Bienal de São Paulo, Brazil; and Gwangju Biennale, Korea, among others. www.ekac.org
