Incarnation Project- Xenotransplantation by Chen-Shen Chang

Incarnation Project- Xenotransplantation by Chen-Shen Chang

Date｜2022/1/15 (Sat.) -2022/2/27 (Sun.)

Opening｜2022/1/16 (Sun.) 15:00

Forum｜2022/1/16 (Sun.) 15:30-17:30

Guest｜Bo-Cheng Shen

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Xenotransplantation is the procedure of transplanting cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. This year, an American scientist has successfully transplanted the kidney of a pig to a patient with a malfunctioned kidney. This artwork is a response to the surgical event. I shall also extend the discussion to the cultural, religious, civilizational, and historical factors behind the incident, and address issues regarding the psychological identities in our imagination. In fact, the history of transplanting animal organs into humans can be traced back to the 17th century. Back then, people had tried transfusing animal blood into humans, but it never quite worked. After centuries of scientific development, today’s artificial heart valves are mainly made of the heart valves of pigs, as pig intestines have also become the source for obtaining anticoagulant heparin. Other than that, pig skin is applied to burned skin transplants as well. Can the organs of genetic modified pigs be employed to a wider range of animal-to-human transplantation? The question is not only a matter of potential medical breakthrough. Indeed, successful applications may provide a new plastic surgery option for burns; along with other novel options of organ transplantation, the innovation will save and extend countless lives. However, we still need to define whether animals are to be seen as some sort of medical material, food, or a part of the natural resource to be plundered. The scientific development invented by humans is like some sort of mythical artifact that deconstructs nature, the human body, and all living beings to meet its manipulative purposes. In terms of modern science, anatomy and medical science may simply be object lessons and clinical applications; however, they also reflect humans’ craving for spiritual transcendence as we look into their aesthetic, scientific, philosophical, medical, spiritual, and physiological dimensions in human civilization. This is a reminder that scientific measures are never neutral. Under rapid science developments, we are witnessing the fullest force of human desires. Perhaps one day, everyone will be able to reconstruct their own body inside out. In the future, it’s very likely that people will probe into new discussions concerning individual responsibility towards one’s own body and spiritual attributions, or even review the distribution and social structure of those with reconstructed DNAs.

The concept of the title “Incarnation Project” is more like a psychological transcendence that brings life back to its essence. The series goes from discussing behavioral science to the art attempts demonstrated through pseudoscientific means, the marginalized body, the body modifications in BDSM, deconstruction of human desire, the anatomical theater, and medical science. The knowledge of medical science is permeating the imagination of the public. Through these technologies, we can also reform and reconstruct our bodies as we accumulate scientific knowledge and skills. Medication is no longer limited to the treatments of diseases, but also genetic management and engineering. Social and cultural phenomena are the hidden and the obscured exposed in our everyday life. Once upon a time, medical science had simply been a transcendent and purified version of sorcery that resembles religion both in its means and functions. As medication seeks the intervention of scientific measures, we still find ourselves drawn to the ancient theme with all the technological progress and developments of modern knowledge. Surely, the spiritual and supernatural world is not nonsense. In a way, creativity is the product of mental and spiritual needs for finding attachments to the surrounding culture. We long to control our own bodies, and we crave for the transcendent utopian world that frees our bodies so much that some even choose the path of body modification. Although art often reflects pictures of reality, overemphasizing the link between art and social reflections or symbols will sometimes ossify, disarray, and obscure the art language. I want to study the relationship between art and science through experimental measures of the body faculty and behaviors. No matter it be the mechanical bodies, hurt bodies, beautiful bodies, suffering bodies, or modified bodies, they all reveal that within the visual language of contemporary art, the body is no longer a mere demonstration or means of performance. It is now the expression for actions. It is art in action. This concept is found in photography, movies, and video images. Performance artists and conceptual artists have turned themselves into works and symbols that handle both social and art issues. Under this type of social system, the method of thinking and collecting information has been utilizing visions and other senses to reflect and ponder the multiple identities of the body within performance art, and challenges the audience to understand works concerning the body through a visual measure.

【About Chen-Shen Chang】 2021 Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy in National Defense Medical Center 2021 Taipei National University of the Arts 2015 Department of Fine Arts of Tunghai University 2008 Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School

【SOLO EXHIBITIONS】 2021 Incarnation Project - Anatomical Theatre, VT Artsalon

【GROUP EXHIBITIONS】 2021 Incarnation Project - Surgical Cuts and Stitches Landscape Wounds, Younger Than Buddha, Double Square Gallery 2020 Incarnation Project - Surgery of Muse Implant, Taiwan Biennial“Subzoology”, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts 2020 Incarnation Project - Original Desire, Taiwan Biennial Collateral Events “Bian Tai Routes”, Acid House 2020 Incarnation Project - Surgery of Muse Implant, Kaohsiung Award, The Kaohsiung Museum of Fine Arts (KMFA) 2019 Incarnation Project - Surgery of Muse Implant, “Free Up”, TNUA Underground Experimental Field, New Taipei, Taiwan 2019 Incarnation Project - Surgery of Muse Implant, Taiwan Annual, Taipei Expo Park 2019 Swung Dash, Tamsui History Museum C Warehouse, New Taipei, Taiwan 2019 A Journey Begins, TC Yachts, New Taipei, Taiwan 2017 One Night Stay, Regent Taipei, Taipei, Taiwan