PORTFOLIO
MARGHERITA PEVERE
bioart · visual art · research
Berlin (DE) / Helsinki (FI)
·
margheritapevere.com
·
[email protected]
ARTIST STATEMENT
I am fascinated by organic matter such as body relics, bacterial cultures, plants, and
slow-growing lichens, as well as by technological matter, such as biomaterials,
photographic film, digital media, and paper. My work aims at exposing the human
attempt to oppose the transience of life by controlling nature, and combines aesthetic
inquiry and scientific knowledge through installations, performances, and speculative
projects. I manipulate substances and processes so to aesthetically enhance their
material properties and critically address the interplay among species.
SELECTED ARTWORKS
SEMINA AETERNITATIS
LYMPH
LIQUID DEBRIS
WORKS ON PAPER
BLACK BOXES
HERBARIUM
STRATA
SEMINA AETERNITATIS
Semina Aeternitatis
Semina Aeternitatis is an art and science project inspired by the nostalgic lure of memories and a
fundamental biological code; the genome, that might in the future be used for data storage
purposes (DNA data storage). The Latin title, evoking Christian Catholic writings, means “seeds of
eternity” and “people of eternity”. The project aims to create visual artworks with microbial
cellulose obtained from bacteria whose genetic sequence stores traces of stranger’s memories. It
combines evanescent memories with scientific protocols in a sequence of manipulations and
mutations enacted by a variety of subjects - the artist, audience members, scientists, and bacteria.
Semina Aeternitatis is part of my
PhD in Artistic Research at Aalto
University in collaboration with
Biofilia - Base for Biological Arts,
Helsinki
Participative performances, DNA data
storage, visual works on microbial
cellulose from GMO bacteria
Display media: desk, chairs, artist
bookmade of microbial cellulose
Performance duration: 2 hour
2015 (initiated)
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/semina-aeternitatis/
previous page: microbial cellulose growing in saline solution, 2016
The project is articulated through five manipulations. I collect individual memories in a series of
performances involving guided conversations with members of the audience about memories
they would like to keep forever. I take note of their answers in an artist’s book that I made using
microbial cellulose. The first three performances took place at Studio Baustelle (Germany),
transmediale Vorspiel (Germany) and Article Biennial (Norway). I then store those memories in
a digital file. In collaboration with bio-scientists, I will convert the file from binary code to
genetic sequence and order custom synthetic DNA from the resulting output. I will then encode
the synthetic DNA sequence containing the memories onto the genome of Gluconacetobacter
hansenii (G. Hansenii). Eventually, I will obtain microbial cellulose from G. hansenii bacteria,
which will carry the the memories within their DNA. There will be traces of bacterial DNA
containing the memories on this cellulose sheet. I will use this cellulose further to create visual
artworks that extend the aesthetics of my previous · Works on Paper (2015). Naturally occurring
mutations in the section of bacterial genome containing the memories conclude the sequence
of manipulations that articulate the whole project. Erasure and disruption enhance the
evocative power of evanescent human matter.
Book of Memories, performance device. Artist book made of microbial cellulose
top: Book of Memories, detail of the transcription of a stranger's memories
bottom: performance at the Article Biennial (Ph_ Inge Schreuder-Lindløv / www.iolab.no)
LYMPH
Lymph
Lymph is an installation that tackles the physiological origins of abjection and disgust, and fear of
contamination by staging a controlled staining of a piece of white cotton cloth suspended from the
ceiling. A mixture of dark red caput mortum liquid pigment (also known as cardinal purple) and
blood meal mixture drips slowly though a hose and stains the cloth throughout the duration of the
exhibition. On the floor, next to two bovine vertebrae, a glass vase contains blood meal: visitors
can lift the lid of the vase and smell it, similarly to olfactory training. With a visual reference to
classical aesthetics, Lymph investigates the symbols and physiology of disgust in the context of a
Western society challenged by increasing polarization, environmental crisis, and fear of the Other.
Caput mortum pigment and blood meal both hold a reference to death, purification, and
contamination. They are the same colour and their production and use have been, in the past,
controversial. The name "caput mortum" [Latin for “head of the dead”] refers to the residuum of
alchemic transformation processes such as sublimation: a worthless remnant after all valuables
have been depleted. Widely used in oil painting, it is said that caput mortum pigment used to be
made with ground-up mummies, but was replaced with iron oxide once artists became aware of
this fact in the 19th century.
Commissioned by STATE Festival for
Open Science, Art & Society, Berlin
Installation
Media: cotton cloth, animal blood
meal, caput mortum pigment,
bovine vertebrae, hook, chain, water
container, glass container
Size: 300 x 200 x 250 cm
2016
· margheritapevere.com/lymph/
previous page: Lymph, detail
Blood meal is a heavy powder with an intense smell. It is a by-product of industrial farming. Rich in
nutrients, animal blood is sterilized, dried, ground-up and sold as organic fertilizer or an ingredient
for fishing bait. In recent decades, blood meal was mixed with other animal remnants and used in
cattle feed, and played a role in the outbreak of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE). Since
then, some retailers have avoided handling it because customers associate it with BSE scandal.
The smell of blood meal is reminiscent of dried mushrooms and corpses. Its smell triggers the
neuroreceptors responsible for physiological reactions associated with disgust, and gestures that
prevent possible contamination, such as nose wrinkling, stepping back, breath-holding.
Part waste, part resource, animal blood – “industrial” blood – is disgusting and symbolic
simultaneously. Removed from its original industrial context and used as painting material on
white cloth, blood meal works as a catalyst for a reflection on ancestral fears.
Lymph at STATE Festival for Open Science, Art & Society, Kühlhaus Berlin, second day
top: detail of the staining process
bottom: detail of the installation - glass container with blood meal and bovine vertebrae
LIQUID DEBRIS
Liquid Debris
The Liquid Debris series concentrates on the erasure and erosion of the visual information
that is stored in the gelatine layer of photographic film. I manipulate 8mm, 16mm, and 35mm
found footage using different organic and chemical processes. I cultivate seeds and moulds
on 35mm film, corrode 8mm film with my own gastric juices, and obliterate images on 16mm
footage in a way that echoes my series of · Works on Paper, first erasing the gelatine and then
writing on it. In Liquid Debris, I re-stage two interrelated phenomena regarding human legacy:
the human attempt of opposing the transience of life by storing information and the
unavoidable erosive process that looms over us.
8mm, 16mm and 35mm found
footage manipulated with organic
and chemical processes
2016
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/liquid-debris/
· Link: Interview (Italian) and preview of the work
previous page: frame from 8mm color film corroded with gastric juice
I have used Liquid Debris for two audio-visual projects. Firstly, the installation Oggetti
smarrenti iconici labili, which was inspired by the 1976 earthquake in the Italian Friuli region,
The work, developed in collaboration with Associazione Culturale Hommelette, was
premiered in 2016 at In/Visible Cities Festival (Gorizia, Italy). Oggetti smarrenti iconici labili
combined Liquid Debris with documentary film, audio recordings, political and poetic texts
produced in a self-managed camp in Gemona, a town that was almost completely destroyed
by the earthquake. Streams of archival and manipulated images are projected onto large
hand-made paper screens on which I previously transcribed poems and political statements.
The fragmented audio and visual layers overlap and thus disrupt any linear narration,
similarly to the debris caused by an earthquake.
Secondly, Impromptus, a 15-minute collection of five short audio-visual pieces with music by
my long-term collaborator, Ivan Penov. Both the visuals and music are created from the
remains of old footage and new audio recordings are reconverted in "bad” or unconventional
ways, searching for poetry in discarded and unpleasant materials.
frame from 8mm film corroded with gastric juice
top: frame from chemically erased 16mm color film
bottom: frame from 35 black and white film corroded with mold
WORKS ON PAPER
Works on paper
The series of Works on Paper concentrates on the visual aspects of abstract handwriting and the
physical and tactile properties of paper. To create these works, I rely on a very fundamental set
of tools graphite, natural glue, ink, and paper. I manipulate several layers of paper, focusing on
the substance of the cellulose, its structure, and its body. The resulting works require neither
frame nor support, but rely on the essential physicality of paper. They are both fragile and
strong at the same time.
WorkonPaper#1hasbeenawardedthe
VisualArtPrize2016ofCom.It.Es.Berlin
(BerlinCommitteeofItaliansAbroad).
Visual works on paper
media: ink and graphite on paper,
unmounted
size: 25x37 cm; 70x110 cm;
140x190 cm
2010-2015
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/works-on-paper/
previous page: Work on paper #11, 37x23 cm, 2015, detail
The series was born while working on the piece · Briefe / Letters (2010). For this work, I recorded
sounds produced by my physical gestures while writing, and composed them into a sound piece.
I placed large sheets of paper on the floor and set-up two microphones to capture the sound of
the pencil on the paper. Since the amount of paper sheets I had was limited, I kept writing
repeatedly on the same sheet in order to record enough audio samples. Eventually, the words
were superimposed over one another, composing many different layers. This visual composition
struck me. The words were illegible, yet the absence of meaning intensified their visual impact.
The illegible words had a strong evocative power, independent from their meaning.
I’ve been working on this series of works on paper for several years. I made black on blackframed pictures, where one can see the handwriting signs only under particular light
conditions. In the installation · Labyrinth (2012), I used large-scale black works for the walls. In
recent years, the focus has shifted to transparencies and structures. These works are a
fundamental manifestation of presence. They are silence. They are eroded sediments of words.
They are traces of thoughts on the underlying substance of cellulose. They are both presence
and absence at the same time; creation and corrosion.
Work on Paper #17, 37x23 cm, 2015
Work on Paper #30, 70x110 cm, 2015
BLACK BOXES
Black Boxes
Seriesofparticipativeperformances.
Display media: paper sheets,
pencils, envelopes, cardboard
box, DVD, flash drive, desk, 2
chairs
Black Boxes size: 25 x 18x 4 cm
performance size: min 4x4m
performance duration: 5h (can
be repeated on two days)
2014 (initiated)
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/black-boxes/
previous page: Black Boxes #1, #2, #3, detail
Black Boxes is inspired by the issue of media decay. The work involves a series of participative
performances where I collect shared memories in a specific context. These memories are then
sealed in a box until an arbitrary date in the distant future. The contents will remain unseen until
the box is opened on the specified date, assuming that the storage units are still readable by
that time. Like snapshots of specific moments, the complete series of Black Boxes will generate
a time-lapse of the specific context of their creation.
During each performance, I sit at a desk inviting members of the public to engage in private
communication with me. On the desk there is a range of objects they can use for this purpose: my
email contact details, a Polaroid camera, letter paper and some notes. I reply to every message I
receive. At the end of the performance, all the materials produced are put in a box. All messages
sent via the Internet are downloaded and saved to a hard-drive. The box is then sealed, thus
becoming a time capsule from the dates of the performance. On the box there is an “expiry date”.
What will happen to this data, dialogues and ideas in fifteen or twenty years?
Black Box #1, detail
top: performance view at DRHA Conference, University of Greenwich, London
bottom: Black Box #1 contents, sneak peek
HERBARIUM
Herbarium
Herbarium is a series of seven botanical tables eroded by insects and microorganisms.
Herbariums are collections where plant specimens are classified according to scientific names
and the location of their collection. The tables of my Herbarium once belonged to the collection
of a marine biologist. He collected wild plant specimen on the Croatian Adriatic coast, identified
them, mounted them on cardboard, and labelled them. These tables were stored for many
years as loose sheets in a closed folder. During this time, insects and microorganisms partially
consumed the specimens and mounts. When I opened the folder, I was struck by result of the
activity of the insects and microorganisms. Delicate filigrees, silhouettes and small holes had
replaced the original specimens, though the plants were still recognizable. For instance, the
specimen of Orchis papillonacea, a wild species of orchid, had left only a vague, sensual shadow
on the cardboard. I cleaned away the dust, fixed the remaining fragments with a fixative and
eventually framed the botanical tables.
Series of 7 eroded botanical tables:
dried plant specimens mounted on
cardboard and labelled, glass frames
22x29 cm
2012
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/herbarium/
previous page: Herbarium - Orchis Papillonacea
Trying to define who owns the authorship of Herbarium is a challenging task. Does its authorship
belong to nature and its wild plants? Does it belong to the marine biologist who classified them?
Does it belong to microorganisms and insects that consumed the plants and mounts? Does it
belong to the artist, who saved the collection from rubbish, and who fixed the plant fragments and
framed the tables? Each one of these subjects contributed to the creation of this work. However,
the primary author that performed covertly inside the closed folder was time. At an aesthetic level,
the erosive process of time created a sophisticated visual embroidery on each table. At a
philosophical level, time intertwined two apparently opposite processes: the action of
classification by the scientist, and the transformative process of nature. Each table simultaneously
represents systemisation and entropy, identification and transformation. The eroded tables of
Herbarium are similar to a memento mori, originally the ancient Roman objects created to prompt
reflection on the transient nature of life. They are a reminder of how natural processes disregard
human attempts to classify, and encode the natural world through knowledge.
Herbarium, table with no scientific name entry
Herbarium, Coronila emerus
STRATA
Strata
The Strata project is a handwriting performance on the wall of the · Vajont Dam, an obstructed
water reservoir 100 km to the north of Venice. For several days, I will write on the wall by
removing the darkened layers of dust and micro vegetation that cover the surface, with the aid
of a high-pressure water jet. The original light-grey tone of the dam will be revealed in the form
of handwriting. The strokes will overlap each other and form visible filigree on the surface of the
concrete. The intervention will cover the full width of the dam following the line of the water
level as recorded on 9 October 1963.
Project
for a site-specific
handwriting performance on the
Vajont Dam, Erto e Casso (BL), IT
media: water, concrete wall,
lichens, dust, high pressure
water cleaner
size: 120 m x 3 m
2014 (project)
· margheritapevere.com/artwork/strata/
previous page: Strata, Performance sketch.
View of the dam wall from the obstructed reservoir
On 9 October 1963, 260 million cubic metres of rock broke off from the mountain beside the
dam. It fell into the reservoir of the Vajont Dam, producing an enormous wave of at least 50
million cubic metres of water. The dam, completed in 1959 and one of the biggest in the world
at the time, did not suffer any serious damage. However, flooding destroyed several villages in
the valley and killed almost 2,000 people.
The tragic events excluded its natual element - water - and prevented any practical use of the
dam. Through the Strata performance, I will use water - the original element of the dam - to
intervene with the layers that have accumulated on its walls through time. The writings
produced during the performance are not meant to be legible. Rather, they represent an
attempt to redefine and rewrite memory through my physical gestures. The words will be
emptied of their literal and functional meaning, thus disclosing their pure evocative power.
Landslide of Vajont Dam, 10 oct 1963, view on the obstructed reservoir
Unknown author Source: Wikimedia Commons
Strata, Performance sketch
VITA
Education
Academic Conferences / Workshops / Talks
2016-2020
2017
2014-2015
2007-2012
2003-2006
Aalto University of Arts, Doctoral Programme in Arts, Helsinki
PhD candidate - supervisor: Prof. Helena Sederholm
Meisterschülerin, Berlin University of the Arts
Department of Art and Media - supervisor: Prof. Thomas Arslan
MFA Audiovisual Composition - with honours, Conservatory "Tartini”, Triest, IT
School of Music and New Technologies - supervisor: Prof. Pietro Polotti
BA Political Sciences, Environmental Politics - with honours
University of Triest - supervisor: Prof. Giusepe Pellizzoni
Solo Shows
2015
ErodedSediments.WorksonpaperandspeculationsonDNAinscriptions,StudioBaustelle,Berlin
2013
Labyrinth, Club Zyp, Triest
Videoloops, Bookshop In der Tat, Triest
2010
Selected Group Shows
2017
Premio Italiano dell'Anno, Italian Embassy in Berlin
The Elusiveness of Nature: DIYBio Fair, Art Laboratory Berlin / Biotinkering e.V.
2016
Scope Sessions, Spektrum art_technology_community, Berlin, curated by Aude Francoise
2015
2014
State - Festival for Open Science, Berlin, curated by Daniela Silvestrin
Dutch Design Week - Bioart Laboratories Eindhoven, NL, curated by Jalila Essaidi
Article Biennial, Stavanger, NO, curated by Hege Tapio and Nora Vage
Woven Trajectories, Studio Baustelle, Berlin, curated by Monika Berstis
In/Visible Cities Festival, Gorizia, IT, curated by Alessandro Cattunar
USB Shuffle Show, Institut für Alles Mögliche, Berlin
2016
2015
2014
2011
Scope Session #63
Growing Cellulose, BioTinkering e.V.., Berlin, curated by Mirela Alistar
On Cellulose, curated by Mindaugas Gapševičius, Schillerpalais, Berlin
Science Cafe, curated by Desiree Förster & Johann Bauerfeind, Berlin Art Laboratory
Green HillGallery,curated byMartin Reiche & Noemie Richard,transmedialeVorspiel, Berlin
DIY Bio Meetup, Spektrum art_technology_community, Berlin
Media Archaeology as Artistic Practice, CTM Festival, HKW, Berlin
DRHA Digital Research for the Humanities and the Arts, University of Greenwich, London
Multimodality&Cross-modality in Art&Science, SISSA, Triest
European Platform for Artistic Research in Music, University of Music and Arts, Belgrade, SR
Residencies
2011
2008
Medulin Art Residency, Medulin, Pula, HR
Brsec Art Residency 2008, Eugen Kumicic Gallery, Brsec, Rijeka, HR
Further projects and collaborations
International Theatre Festival, Kulturaustausch.net Berlin - Erbil IR [producer]
2007-2013 The thousand Eyes - International Festival of Cinema and Arts, Triest [producer]
2010
I volti dell’acqua / The Faces of water, Villa Muciana, Muzzana (UD), I [curator]
2007
Paolo Pachini, Il Diluvio IT/FR [performer]
2013
Awards
2016
2012
2011
2010
Visual Art Prize of Com. It. Es. Berlin 2016 / Berlin Committee of Italians Abroad
Conservatory of Music Tartini, Triest, best final artwork accolade
Premio Carajan per le arti visive, Triest, honorary mention
AsoloArtFilmFestival, Asolo (TV), IT, final selection
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
Johanna Devi Solo, Indian Embassy in Berlin
Outside Anomalies II. Teatro Verdi. Triest
Premio Carajan per le arti visive, Triest
DAE –DobiaArtEventi, Dobialab laboratori creativi, Dobia di Staranzano (GO), IT
CATODICA – TriesteFilmFestival, Stazione Rogers, Triest
AsoloArtFilmFestival, Asolo (TV), I
Notte dei Ricercatori. Camera di Commercio. Triest
MYFAVORITìNGS, Teatro Elios, Scorzè, Venice
404 Festival / Postelectronicart, Molo IV, Trieste, Italia
Sticeboris, Villa Beretta, Pavia di Udine (UD), Italy
p o r t ra i t b y A n j a W i e s e n
Macedonian Electroacoustic Music Association event, Film Academy Shtip, Skopje MK
Last update: april 2017
Thank you.
[email protected]
· margheritapevere.com