‘Invisible, But They Do NotExist’#I, 2018

Installation, Painting, Mixed Media, Dimensions Variable 

The average beverage vending machine bombards consumers with numerous convenient choices in modern society, which contributes to their global popularity. The beneficial intent of some of the drinks is to prevent dehydration, provide carbohydrates to boost energy, and to supply electrolytes that can replace those lost via perspiration. The beverages contain 6% to 8% carbohydrates, the principal being glucose, fructose, sucrose, and synthetic maltodextrins also monosodium L-glutamate. These restorative materials have recently been shown to interact with various aqueous media. Various products differ in their composition, but most typically contain engineered ingredients which are thought to manipulate organs in the human body. Among the ingredients, the contain small amounts of the monosodium L-glutamate that is composed genetic variation called DNA which has been known to cause such adverse reactions as: cellular damage, organ disease development, alteration of hundreds of brain genes, and contribute to emotional disorders. The maladies are long-term, and these are not minor effects. Through this exhibition, it will suggest what we slowly have a lot to potentially lose by the introduction of genetically-modified ingredients which is also a fundamental relationship with excess artificial sweeteners.

Showna kim is interested in making work by fundamental scientific data for molecular biology and genetic modification disciplines which she has been a focal point of her work. The works in exhibition draw on molecular & human biology, gene-modification and bio-chemical data using the medium of fluid replacement drinks (e.g carbohydrate and electrolyte beverages). Created by installation using painting and sound, the works seek to represent a reaction of a particular gene or other biological element in the human body to chemicals commonly found in mass-consumed beverages. This exhibition deals with phenomena regarding the inconspicuous genetic manipulation of internal organs on a cellular level by investigating the influence of synthetic materials used in artificial flavor enhancement. She explores metaphorical notions of chemical toxicology, interconnectivity, experience and implications for organ health in the human body and its environment as a result of the introduction and continuous use of artificial enhancements.

This visual metaphor indicates the three-dimensional dihybrid of human organs and cells in a dark space. Moving through the space spectators become marked as abstract forms to become structures themselves as the installation depicts the physical change and physical properties within it, with an optical effect. The act of dropping the beverage on water represents the transformation of the beverage matter through various biochemical and physical processes that it undergoes as it is moved along at inside a body metaphorically. The materials generate illusions depicted through audio-visual chain reactions formed from distributed parallel sources that are reformulated through repetition, timing and reflection effect. Through this exhibition, Kim raises questions about advancements in scientific technology that are influencing and changing every aspect of contemporary life, from daily ephemera to philosophical notions of time, space, and the nature of existence.