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Science on Tap is a monthly science café that features a brief, informal presentation by a scientist or other expert followed by lively conversation.
“Domesticated Viscera: The Biological Becomes Quotidian”
A talk by visual artist Laura Splan
Detail of “Blood Scarf” 2002
Chromogenic print mounted on aluminum, 24″H x 20″W
In this month’s talk, Laura Splan, a Brooklyn based visual artist, explore show the biology of the body enters the quotidian landscape through cultural production and historical events. Splan’s conceptually driven work employs a variety of media including sculpture, video, photography, digital media and works on paper. Her objects and images interrogate the visual manifestations of our cultural ambivalence towards the human body. She often uses found objects and appropriated images to examine the evolving role of biomedical imagery in our every day lives, which she refers to as the “domestication of viscera“. She often combines signifiers of femininity, domesticity and comfort with those of disorder, aberration and disease. Much of her work is inspired by experimentation with materials and processes including blood, cosmetic facial peel and computerized embroidery.
Laura Splan has exhibited in a broad range of curatorial contexts including craft, feminism, technology, design, medicine and ritual. Her work as been exhibited widely at such venues as Museum of Art & Design (New York, NY), International Museum of Surgical Science (Chicago, IL), and New York Hall of Science (New York, NY). She was recently awarded a commission from the Center for Disease Control. As a visiting artist and lecturer, she has taught interdisciplinary courses that explore intersections of Art and Science including “Art & Biology” at Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA) and “Dissection as Studio Practice” at Observatory (Brooklyn, NY).
This month's Science on Tap is presented by the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
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More information on the Science on Tap series
Science on Tap is sponsored by a consortium of five Philadelphia institutions: the Academy of Natural Sciences, the American Philosophical Society Museum, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the Mütter Museum of The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Wagner Free Institute of Science.
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