HOT AIR
In the heart of Sunset Park, within the historic Brooklyn Army Terminal, BioBAT Art Space stands as a pioneering gallery that blurs the lines between art and science. The current exhibition, Embodied Futures & the Ecology of Care, Curated by Elena Soterakis & Eve Barro, showcases eleven artists whose work merges research methods and materials from scientific practices such as genetics, mycology, microscopy, and bacterial cultivation with artistic creation. By using living yeast as their palette and mushrooms as their sculpting medium, these artists challenge conventional artistic norms.
This exhibition, drawing artists from Brooklyn’s creative ecosystems—Genspace, Makerspace, and the NARS Foundation—explores the expansive notion of “care.” It reimagines care as a dynamic force that includes all living beings and ecosystems, moving beyond traditional hierarchical interpretations. The audience is invited to envision a future where care is woven into the fabric of environmental and societal systems, prompting a reassessment of our ethical, political, and ecological responsibilities.
Katie Hubbell’s impressive installation, Slow Down Soft Body, Stay with Me, acts as a portal to intimate dialogues with the natural world, using video, scent, and audio to foster empathy and physical connection across species.
John Roach explores the relationship between humans and pollinators in Scorched Honey Archive and Colony: Hive Listener, reflecting on the ecological consequences of our interactions.
Lolo Ostia’s enchanting installation The Light in Me, See the Light in You also delves into interspecies relationships, using SCOBY—a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast used as a starter for fermentation in foods and beverages such as kombucha—to highlight the interconnectedness of life.
Laura Kung’s delicate Quiet Lights series and Juyon Lee’s captivating photographic sculptures both meditate on the interplay of light, natural and artificial, capturing the ephemeral beauty of our environment and the fluidity of time. Elaine Young addresses biopolitics and contemporary health discussions through Signs of Life | INHALE / EXHALE, with the HOST collection exploring the microscopic world’s allure, aligning with the exhibition’s theme of examining life at various scales.
Shihori Yamamoto’s multi-media works offer a personal yet universally relevant exploration of conception and gestation, such as a painting depicting the artist’s memory of her own biological conception in the womb, while Karen Ingram’s Biogenetic Blooms demonstrates the fusion of art with genetic engineering, showcasing living artworks grown from modified yeast to emphasize the collaboration between art, science, and care.
Iz Nettere and Suzanne Head probe the dialogue on body, microbiome, and interspecies relationships, with Nettere’s sculptures and Head’s glass masks reflecting on our connections with the natural world. Aradhita Ajaykumar Parasrampuria presents a sustainable alternative to microplastics, emphasizing environmental responsibility and the health impact faced by artists.
This large-scale and ambitious exhibition succeeds in being informative while sparking curiosity and imagination. Embodied Futures & the Ecology of Care encourages viewers to adopt a broader understanding of care, promoting empathy and reciprocity across all life forms and ecosystems.
Embodied Futures & the Ecology of Care at BioBAT Curated by: Elena Soterakis & Eve Barro Exhibiting Artists: Aradhita Ajaykumar Parasrampuria, Katie Hubbell, Elaine Young, Karen Ingram, Laura Kung, Juyon Lee, Lolo Ostia, John Roach, Iz Nettere, Shihori Yamamoto, Suzanne Head
Closing Reception & Artist Panel Saturday, March 16, 2024. Artist Panel at 2 pm, followed by a closing reception.