Natural history of the enigma

Natural History of the Enigma
image/jpeg
720 × 478

Natural History of the Enigma
image/jpeg
720 × 480

Natural History of the Enigma, transgenic flower with artist's own DNA expressed in the red veins
image/jpeg
700 × 467

making of
image/jpeg
864 × 1111

enigma water
image/jpeg
480 × 720

"Edunia Seed Pack Study I"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

"Edunia Seed Pack Study IV"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

"Edunia Seed Pack Study II"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

"Edunia Seed Pack Study III"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

"Edunia Seed Pack Study V"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

"Edunia Seed Pack Study VI"
image/jpeg
648 × 501

Edunia Seed Packs, hand-made paper objects with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
720 × 396

Eduardo Kac placing Edunia seeds in an Edunia Seed Pack at the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
image/jpeg
293 × 360

Eduardo Kac placing Edunia seeds in an Edunia Seed Pack at the Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis
image/jpeg
480 × 360

Edunia Seed Pack #6, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 452

Edunia Seed Pack #1, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 452

Edunia Seed Pack #3, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 428

Edunia Seed Pack #4, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 451

Edunia Seed Pack #5, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 452

Edunia Seed Pack #2, hand-made paper object with Edunia seeds and magnets
image/jpeg
338 × 452

"Edunia Seed Pack Studies"
image/jpeg
720 × 480

"Singularis" (from the Natural History of the Enigma series)
image/jpeg
616 × 409

The central work in the "Natural History of the Enigma" series is a plantimal, a new life form I created and that I call "Edunia", a genetically-engineered flower that is a hybrid of myself and Petunia. The Edunia expresses my DNA exclusively in its red veins.
"Natural History of the Enigma" is a reflection on the contiguity of life between different species. It uses the redness of blood and the redness of the plant's veins as a marker of our shared heritage in the wider spectrum of life. By combining human and plant DNA in a new flower, in a visually dramatic way (red expression of human DNA in the flower veins), I bring forth the realization of the contiguity of life between different species.


The sculpture that is part of "Natural History of the Enigma", entitled "Singularis", is a three-dimensional fiberglass and metal form measuring 14'4" (height) x 20'4" (length) x 8' 5" (width.) It contrasts the minute scale of the molecular procedure with the larger-than-life structure. Likewise, the work pairs the ephemeral quality of the living organism with the permanence of the large sculpture. The sculpture is directly connected to the flower because its form is an enlargement of unique forms found inside this invented flower. In other words, the sculpture is derived from the molecular procedure employed to create the flower .In its hybridity, the sculpture reveals the proximity of our next of kin in the kingdom Plantae.

In anticipation of a future in which Edunias can be distributed socially and planted everywhere, I created a set of six lithographs entitled "Edunia Seed Pack Studies". Visually resonant as they are with the flower and the work's theme, these images are meant to be used in the actual seed packs to be produced in the future. In my exhibition at the Weisman Art Museum, I exhibited a limited edition of Edunia seed packs containing actual Edunia seeds.