Event 1: Kathy High, Waste Matters: You Are My Future

Photo on site!  

The center display "The Bank of Abject Objects"

I almost didn't get to see Kathy High's exhibit, "Waste Matters: You Are My Future," but it was definitely an experience that I won't forget anytime soon.  To be honest, I didn't read the description of the event too carefully before going, so I dragged along an unsuspecting friend who had some interest in microbiology and medicine.

Little did we know how the exhibit would push the boundaries of acceptable discussion topics and friendship... I'm probably over-exaggerating, but the display in the very center of the room featured fecal matter preserved in honey representing High's research of fecal transplants and bacteria within our bodies!  The curator helped explain to us High's Crohn disease and how it influenced her art with aspects of immunology.  As this was my first exhibit I attended, it took awhile to adjust and put on the lens of someone studying both art and science in a critical manner, rather than a mere passerby shocked by the material.

Here's a better photo of the playground piece with reference to the digestive system

This was a very visual representation of how medicine, technology, and art could be combined for such huge medical benefits and understanding of illnesses.  High's symbolism of how waste and bacteria - as gross as they may be - are so essential for life and being grounded to the earth in humility.  It was a very new way to interpret our unit on MedTech, and I was surprised at how artists like High could turn something we usually disregard or ignore as trivial into something empowering for herself and those with Crohn's disease who would benefit from greater awareness of how important the digestive tract is and the severity of the issue if it were impaired.

The curator taking photos of the letter High wrote to Bowie asking for his fecal matter for transplant

The biotech in the basis of High's exhibit brought to life the themes of functional waste.  I'd recommend this show if it was on display again - though it requires an open mind and at times, a very straight face.  It'll help challenge your ways of thinking - and I know it will help inspire my final project as it forced me to think critically of even the most minor of things we take for granted.

I loved her self-portrait!