SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATORS: National Institute of Materials Physics | dr. Adrian Enache, drd. Luminita Radulescu, dr. Mihaela Beregoi, drd. Mihaela Bunea, dr. Ionut Enculescu

Extracellular matrix [ECM] of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, used as a scaffold for growing living cells.
Extracellular matrix [ECM] of vegetal tissues obtained via decellularization process, implanted with artificial nanostructures that allow their movement under certain stimuli [muscular leaves].
Artificial replicas of some vegetal tissues implanted with artificial nanostructures, which allow their movement under certain stimuli. [Soft- Phytomorphic robots].

The IMplant installation explores the relationship between biodiversity and visual identity that we don’t think about very often. The notion of ‘implant’ is central here: it
provides a bridge between the visual identities of the objects we are already accustomed to and the visual questioning of these identities. By ‘implant’ one can understand the creation of new objects from the existing ones, the reiteration of the visual identity in general. The installation stages several such steps. It shows some hybrid entities/ objects with a focus on how different structures/ intensities influence the materiality of different bodies. These objects obtained via bioengineering techniques invite us to look at things differently, as genuine novelties, resulting from redefining familiar identities. The use of non-biological materials is used to interfere with biological systems and make us wonder about the legitimacy of this distinction and the consequences of biological fabrication. Thus, IMplant consists of a collection of iterated objects (natural and artificial), with decomposed features or swapped details, objects that transit the boundaries between species, between natural and artificial, between reality and fiction in an attempt to find new narratives about the human – nature relationship.