22 March 2017

ALIVE: Art Between Life and Science features artwork inspired by the ground-breaking medical and scientific research being undertaken at the University of York.

Six artists were commissioned by the University of York’s Centre for Chronic Diseases and Disorders (C2D2) to produce the work, which highlights the powerful connection between art and science.

The work is being displayed in the free Project Gallery at York Art Gallery from 9 December 2016 to 23 April 2017, with the latest addition opening today.

Living Sculpture (Virtual) by Laurence Payot is inspired by the research around symbiosis by Professor Michael Brockhurst at the University of York. In biology, symbiosis describes two different species existing in close proximity, usually to mutual advantage. It can also describe a beneficial relationship between people. In Living Sculpture (Virtual), visitors are brought together and interact in a symbiotic relationship with the art work and each other.

The work consists of a wooden sculpture vibrating with sound which encloses digital technologies and a Victorian magic trick called Pepper’s Ghost. These create fabric-like holographic forms that temporarily unite two people. As visitors place their hands within, floating particles respond to their movements, creating the illusion of a drapery magnetised by their fingers, wrapping around and in between them.

With this artwork, Payot questions how to reintroduce a sense of physicality into an increasingly digital world and turns invisible human connections into tactile forms. The work features sapele hardwood, LEAP motion controllers, TV screen, Perspex, gel audio speakers, mixed media.

The artist would like to thank all her collaborators on this project – Professor Michael Brockhurst and Ewan Minter (research) Dr Sandra Pauletto , Prof Ambrose Field , Fiona Keenan (sound), and Ashley James Brown and Laurent.

The Project Gallery is open during normal gallery admission hours. Entry is free.