Unwanted Genes on a DNA spiral (2003)

'A weed is a plant whose virtues
have not yet been discovered' _Emerson

_{A temporary sculpture made by Cathy Fitzgerald.
The ideas were thought about over a year... before it was realised.}
_____________________________

It's 50 years since the structure of DNA was first identified.

How do we use this knowledge to view living systems today?

Often scientific thought is mechanistic and reductive and DNA is seen merely as a code.
Often we hear it likened to a computer code, a code that can be 'broken', 'edited', 'cut and pasted'.

The living wildflower weed model offers an alternative metaphor.

Materials: twigs, wild weed flowers, copper wire

Media: digital print, limited edition of 20, 18cm x1.5m, laminated on board, matt coated finish
Price: Sold out.

Collections: held in Trinity College Dublin collection, the Irish Royal College of Surgeons and in private collections

NEWS

This work was

• selected for Earth Explorers,  curated by Ashleigh Downey, The Ark, Temple Bar, Dublin, 2009
• pictured in Real People Talk about Science, Joule New Zealand, Sunday Star Times, Jan 29, 2006, p5. exhibited at the British Association Festival of Science, Trinity College, Dublin, 2005
• exhibited in the Zoology Dept, Trinity College Dublin in 2004, a copy now resides there and at The Royal College of Surgeons, Dublin.
• pictured in Irish Times in article by Cormac Sheridan, >> click here
• selected for curated international art-science show 'Tomorrow', in the New York Hall of Science, Sept -Dec 04
• on the cover of new Canadian EcoHealth magazine in Sept 04
• selected for the Eigse Open 2004 exhibition, curated by Peter Fitzgerald, CIRCA, June 04
• Read online 04 review article at Genome News Network >>click here
Exhibited at DNA: art & science - the double helix at the Contemporary Art Museum Tampa, Florida, Jan 04
• first exhibited in a Group show, Brunswick Mill Studio's, Smithfield, Dublin, Summer 03