“Common Flowers / White Out” reverses the effects of the modification of the petal colour in carnation (Dianthus caryophyllus L.) from white to blue through genetic manipulation. By using a DIY bio-bending approach, the genes which are responsible for the blue colour are exorcised from the plant and its orginal natural white colour is reinstated. “White Out” is the next logical step of the “Common Flowers” series, which laid the foundation by re-animating, multiplying and technically cloning the first commerically available and purely aesthetic GM product, Suntory’s blue “Moondust” carnations. The interest is less biotechno-centric, but more towards solidifying concepts of “bio-media” and “wetware”. “White Out” takes this process a step further by removing the previously introduced genetic material and creating a non-genetically modified plant from a previous GM plant. This double genetic manipulation negates the original intention and serves to question concepts of “change”, “nature”, and “manipulation” in the ongoing biosciences and in the wider social context.
Shiho Fukuhara received a BA(Hons) in Fine Art from Central St Martins and continued her studies with an MA in Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art. Shiho was invited to participate at the Le Pavillion at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2004 and was selected as Artist-in-Residence at IAMAS (Japan), ISEA 2008 in Singapore and most recently at Ambient TV in London. In her art projects she is investigating the relationships between art and science with a special interest in the social implications of emergent biotechnologies.
Georg Tremmel (Austria)
Georg Tremmel studied Visual Media Arts on the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and Interaction Design at the Royal College of Art in London, where he started his ongoing collaboration with Shiho Fukuhara. Their works were shown internationally and awarded serveral distinctions and honours. Most recently, they formed the artistic collaborative research framework BCL with the mission to explore the relations, congruences and differences of biological and cultural codes through artistic interventions and social research.
