Tears, Saliva, Sweat | 2019
Laser cut plywood, petri dishes, Kombucha scoby, microscope slides, tears, saliva, sweat, Cyanotype
Installation
This piece was inspired by the writing project NYC SUMMER
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This work explores pathologies of emotion and its presence as physical manifestations in living organisms. Science as a cultural phenomenon is often understood by the common person through an amalgamation of influences including folklore, eastern medicine, medieval medicine, pseudoscience, alternative practices, and modern-day medicinal treatments, as well as its relationship to psychology, philosophy, and sociology. This understanding stems from factual evidence as well as stories, family traditions or inherited superstitions, and science fiction. Tears, Saliva, and Sweat is an observation of how one assumes their ability to affect another living organism through the presence of emotionally charged bodily secretions.
The power of history lies within the story, the way in which the story is distributed, and its relatability to the listener or observer. Religious practice, tradition, superstition, myth, and legend have all been passed down through storytelling and teaching, including differed interpretation of story or manipulation of the acquired knowledge. Similarly, this work becomes influenced by its connection to and interpretation of experience. Bodily fluids present in bacteria (scoby) have not been correlated to a change in growth, but possibly a change in interpretation of growth. Thus, the power lies in the ability to form a narrative around this pseudoscientific experiment.
Sample I includes tears generated from longing, witnessing the visible pain of others, and over-stimulation. Sample II includes saliva expelled after an altercation, and Sample III includes sweat that surfaced due to chronic anxiety.
