From 20 July to 24 November 2019, the Vitra Design Museum Gallery presents a solo exhibition tracing Ginsberg’s journey as an artist and critical designer. British artist Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg (born in London in 1982) investigates the relationship between nature and the man-made, exploring how this interconnection changes through advances in design and technology. The resulting artworks tell evocative stories that are at once menacing and poetic.
Better Nature presents six of Ginsberg’s projects, four of which date from between 2009 and 2015. All of her works are developed in close collaboration with experts from science, engineering, art, historiography, or the social sciences. »E. chromi« (2009) proposes a new paradigm in diagnostic processes, whereby ingested, genetically modified bacteria can alert us to possible diseases. Better medicine or internal surveillance? »Growth Assembly« (2009), in collaboration with artist Sascha Pohflepp, imagines a future in which plants are genetically engineered to produce everyday consumer goods or tools. A better, more sustainable future? In »The Synthetic Kingdom« (2009), bacteria can be engineered to help generate biodegradable plastics, computer chips are made from nanobacteria and lightbulbs glow with the help of bioluminescent enzymes. But what if these »living machines« produce unwanted side-effects? »Designing for the Sixth Extinction« (2013–15) paints a picture of what biodiversity could look like when man-made companion species are introduced to nature to support endangered animals and plants.
Curator: Viviane Stappmanns
Opening Times: Daily from 10 am to 6 pm
Web Site: www.design-museum.de
Social Media Hashtags: #DaisyGinsberg | #vitradesignmuseum | #VDMGallery
