The Great Work of the Metal Lover is a two part project by Adam W. Brown in which a bacteria is forced to convert soluble gold chloride into usable 24k gold within an engineered atmosphere contained in a bioreactor. The gold is then printed into images, with the bacteria depositing gold in selected areas using a scanning technique with the help of biofilms.
It's a really interesting project that combines ancient and historical notions of value with modern technology and the ability to synthetically produce what was previously only mined, altering our perception of its worth and cultural relevance. From the project site:
"Gold has played a vital role throughout history, and has been recognized for its glorification of both humanity and the divine. It is treasured for its rarity, malleability and incorruptibility. It resists oxidation, corrosion and other chemical bonding processes. Like alchemy, gold is imbued with secrets of the earth, origins of life and early metabolic processes. The Great Work of the Metal Lover speaks directly to the scientific preoccupation with trying to shape and bend biology to our will within the post biological age, essentially questioning the ethical and political ramifications of attempting to perfect nature."
Apparently there are vast amounts of this untapped gold chloride dissolved in oceans and lakes, formed by these micro-organisms. I think this project has a lovely romance to it that illustrates a tension between an archaic human desire for divinity and glamour, and how these priorities vie and shift in the face of emerging technologies.
How could these ideas be applied to the business of bodies and human tissue... if we could tailor micro-organisms that convert skin cells to gold, or something along those lines. Or what if human tissue/genetic information formed a new type of currency, stimulating an alternative economy that was biologically driven but still entrenched in the business and politics of today? I guess it comes down to Gattaca again. Human worth, genetic 'gold,' the quest for human perfection and divinity. There's something about this gold being found in our lakes and oceans, and how it all remains unused and untapped. There must be something in the chemical makeup of our bodies that could serve a similar purpose.. the hidden gold of our bodies.
It's a really interesting project that combines ancient and historical notions of value with modern technology and the ability to synthetically produce what was previously only mined, altering our perception of its worth and cultural relevance. From the project site:
"Gold has played a vital role throughout history, and has been recognized for its glorification of both humanity and the divine. It is treasured for its rarity, malleability and incorruptibility. It resists oxidation, corrosion and other chemical bonding processes. Like alchemy, gold is imbued with secrets of the earth, origins of life and early metabolic processes. The Great Work of the Metal Lover speaks directly to the scientific preoccupation with trying to shape and bend biology to our will within the post biological age, essentially questioning the ethical and political ramifications of attempting to perfect nature."
Apparently there are vast amounts of this untapped gold chloride dissolved in oceans and lakes, formed by these micro-organisms. I think this project has a lovely romance to it that illustrates a tension between an archaic human desire for divinity and glamour, and how these priorities vie and shift in the face of emerging technologies.
How could these ideas be applied to the business of bodies and human tissue... if we could tailor micro-organisms that convert skin cells to gold, or something along those lines. Or what if human tissue/genetic information formed a new type of currency, stimulating an alternative economy that was biologically driven but still entrenched in the business and politics of today? I guess it comes down to Gattaca again. Human worth, genetic 'gold,' the quest for human perfection and divinity. There's something about this gold being found in our lakes and oceans, and how it all remains unused and untapped. There must be something in the chemical makeup of our bodies that could serve a similar purpose.. the hidden gold of our bodies.
