Animal ± human – Leena Kangaskoski
Enter a sterile space. Experiments are conducted in this space. The experiments require controlled conditions, so your bacteria, viruses, dirt, and mucus must remain outside.
The test begins. Imagine how a pig embryo is opened and cells are removed that would have grown into a pig’s kidney.
Imagine how human kidney-growing cells are placed into the space, how they adapt to their environment, and how they begin to develop alongside the pig cells.
Imagine how human cells and pig cells in the embryo explore each other, filling the empty spaces in one another, and how the life-filled cells grow and multiply together.
The cells strive to live and avoid death. They don’t know they are growing in a mixed form, nor do they realize they are mythical. They don’t know they are a product of humans, and they don’t know that the world may not be ready to accept them.
They don’t know that within them lies an ancient monster, a chimera, breathing fire from its mouth. They don’t know they are a salvation for those waiting on organ transplant lists; saving angels disguised as pig cells; they live and they contain life, and they do not want to die.
Under current legislation, human-pig chimeras are allowed to live for 28 days. In Europe and the United States, experiments involving human cells have strict ethical rules, though there are significant differences in the regulatory and oversight systems.
Yet, the human-pig chimera already raises new questions. Does it have human or animal rights? Can the definition of humanity be expanded to include chimeras? Could multi-species chimeras be the life forms of the future?
Animal ± Human presents a still image of a space, at the center of which lies a hospital bed surrounded by antibacterial curtains. Around it are glass cell cultures, where the cells were just moments ago swimming, seeking favorable arrangements. The silence is broken by the sound of a droplet. Red clay, squeezed through a meat grinder, holds its shape. It is hydrated and sweats. In the corner, a frozen meal intended for dinner has been forgotten.
Leena Kangaskoski (b. 1982) has created kinetic installations, films, and performances. Many of her works deal with subjects that do not easily fit into predefined categories. She has explored the boundaries of mind and body and examined quantum physics’ explanations of reality. Recently, she has developed an interest in glass as a material. Glass always retains its liquid form, even though it appears static to us.
Leena graduated from the Royal College of Art in London and from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. She has held several exhibitions and performances in Helsinki, London, Berlin, Norway, and Vancouver. Kangaskoski is a member of the duo A Few Pointers and an artist member of the Muu ry artist organization.
Translated with ChatGPT