Exhibition: Jonáš Verešpej, Regina Schroeter

Opening: The Art of Deception

Exploring the artistic and creative value of synthetic biology

27 Oct 2016

Where is the line between ultimate deception and perfection?
Join us on October 27th in Mediamatic's Sluisdeurenloods for the official opening of The Art Of Deception - a collaboration between artist and designer Isaac Monté and professor Toby Kiers from VU Amsterdam. A collection of 18 transformed pig hearts that challenge contemporary notions of beauty and offer a vision on society's pursuit for perfection.

Free Entrance / After the opening you are welcome to join Isaac at Biotalk: Adorning the Internal.

Facebook event opening / biotalk

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The Art of Deception - Isaac Monté -

The Art of Deception

Humans use deception to achieve perfection in society, art and science. Reacting to this through art, Isaac Monté (BE) and Toby Kiers (US) have taken discarded pig hearts and transformed them into elegant vessels for new life.
Kiers and Monté explore how biological interventions and aesthetic manipulation can be used as tools for the ultimate deception: the transformation of inner beauty, from grotesque to perfect. Can the ghost organ be a blank canvas for designers? Can organs be objects of design? Will humans be able to manipulate organs for aesthetic purposes?

The Art of Deception was commissioned by Bio Art & Design Awards, with the support of ZonMw (The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development)

Artists

Isaac Monté

Belgian design activist Isaac Monté creates design objects and installations as a reaction to social, ecological and economical problems. By doing so he uses design as a medium to transform forgotten or overlooked problems into possibilities and opportunities. In 2015 Isaac recieved The Bio Art & Design Award, which gave him the opportunity to create The Art Of Deception in collaboration with Toby Kiers. Monté is currently based in Rotterdam.

Toby Kiers

Evolutionary biologist and Professor of Mutualistic Interactions at the VU Amsterdam. Toby's research focuses on how cooperation between species (mutualisms) respond and evolve together within a rapidly changing world, with the ultimate aim of linking this to environmental changes.

Information

Official Opening:
27 October 17:30 - 20:30
Free entrance

Mediamatic Biotoop
Dijksgracht 6
1019 BS Amsterdam

After the opening you can join the Biotalk: Adorning the Internal with presentations by Isaac Monté and Mandy den Elzen.

Exhibition on display:
4th October 2016 - 14 February 2017
Daytime opening hours with tickets:
Wed - Fri : 17:00 - 19:00
Sat + Sun: 15:00 - 19:00

Free entrance

In the evenings and nights the hearts can be viewed for free through the windows. It is also possible to see the collection during events.