Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr grow a semi-living coat in an attempt to produce victimless leather, striving to introduce the possibility of wearing leather without killing an animal.
In most cases, once the cell growth process begins, the quantity exceeds that found in the organism from which they were originally taken. For example, the 3T3 mouse cells which are highly prevalent in scientific research and are now weighed in tons, all came from one mouse in the 1970s. In other words, a model has been created that uses life without causing death.The intention is not to develop yet more consumer goods, but rather to raise awareness of the exploitation of other living creatures by human society.
Catts and Zurr endeavor to provide models or examples for a possible future, and to study their possible impact on our cultural perception of life. In this respect the lab they operate at the University of Western Australia has a unique role. They introduce artistic presence into the scientific field, thus generating a new agenda. In a reality where the use of biotechnological research, genetic engineering, and other scientific fields, along with the information pertaining to these fields, are in the hands of governments and economic corporations, TC&A’s demand to be partners in research and dissemination of information, and the presence of artists in the research processes enable its democratization, reinforcing ethical and political questions that usually remain unasked.
The project is conducted at http://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au/ SymbioticA: The Art and Science Collaborative Research Laboratory at the University of Western Australia, in consultation with Prof. Professor Arunasalam Dharmarajan from the School of Anatomy and Human Biology and Verigen, a Perth-based
company specializing in tissue-engineering.
The CDA's archives are operating with the support of the Ostrovsky Family Fund and Artis
