Sterilin Supports Heart Art
British Heart Foundation’s ‘Artist-in-Residence’ uses Sterilin microtitre plates to depict cutting edge heart research
An art gallery is not the usual setting for Sterilin microtitre plates, but they certainly caught the eye of passers-by during a recent exhibition by postgraduate art student, Mark Eischeid.
The architectural installation (see photograph) in the window of an Edinburgh College of Art gallery was constructed entirely from Sterilin 96-well microtitre plates filled with various shades of blue-dyed agarose gel. The dye, a solution of bromophenol blue and xylene cyanol, is normally used as a gel loading dye for the separation of DNA and RNA by electrophoresis.
Mark found the inspiration for the installation in the research laboratories of the British Heart Foundation Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) at the University of Edinburgh during his time as the centre’s 2009 Artist-in-Residence.
Mark describes the piece, entitled ‘We Live Among Infinities’, as “exploring ideas of conceptual and physical scale using materials found in the laboratory. In re-appropriating scientific supplies for architectural effect, I am also exploring the nature of perception and research. While microtitre plates are used in the laboratory to study some of the smallest elements of life, in this application it is Edinburgh’s urban landscape that is reflected in each of the wells. This change in scale of the viewed object, from the microscopic to the macroscopic, inverts the scale relationship between viewer and the viewed - between researcher and research instrument.”
A post-graduate student in the Art, Space and Nature MFA programme at the Edinburgh College of Art, Mark was awarded the CoRE 2009 Artist-in-Residence title in July last year and exhibited the work inspired by his residency in February 2010.
“My time in the laboratory at the Queen’s Medical Research Institute meant that I was able to consider materials that I wouldn’t normally have access to,” comments Mark. “I was drawn to the Sterilin microtitre plate because, when filled with agarose gel and held up to the window, it multiplies the scene beyond. This effect inspired me to create something that would really change the experience of the gallery space in an architecturally compelling way.
“Sterilin provided all the plates for the installation,” concludes Mark. “Without this support, the work would not have been possible. I really appreciate their generosity.”
The BHF Centre of Research Excellence aims to increase public awareness of cardiovascular disease and the research being carried out in the centre through the annual Artist-in-Residence award. One of the ways they are doing this is by engaging with the public and encouraging young people into biomedical science by bringing the subject to life through art. The Sterilin microtitre plate never looked so beautiful!
For further information about Sterilin microtitre plates and the full range of high quality disposable plastic products available from Sterilin, please visit the Sterilin website at www.sterilin.co.uk or email rachel.adams@sterilin.co.uk