boredomresearch (Vicky Isley and Paul Smith)
Call of the Silent Cell, 2021
Single Channel Film | 10.22mins
‘Call of the Silent Cell’ is an experimental film of cellular behaviour centred on the interplay between the gut microbiome, the immune system and wider concerns regarding the symbiosis of human and environmental health. The beautiful patterns of nature, as we might experience on a walk in the woods, can also be found in our bodies. ‘Call of the Silent Cell’ gives you the opportunity to briefly enter this magical world as a storm breaks, revealing we are not as separated from nature as we think. In the film you journey with an old man who wanders through a forest, meditating on the fragility of his body and the environment. A storm arrives, ‘not of breath and air but of cells and their signals’, revealing a disturbance in the body, an immune system in overdrive. Emerging from the storm the old man gains a new wisdom that his bodily health is deeply intertwined with the life of the forest.
The film reflects on the latest insights revealed by single cell analysis and was produced in collaboration with Human Cell Atlas members, Marcin Pekalski and Melanie Dunstan, based at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, the University of Oxford. ‘Call of the Silent Cell’ is produced by Fusion Arts and commissioned by One Cell At A Time, a public engagement project with the Human Cell Atlas research initiative that is mapping every cell type in the human body. This film was funded in whole by Wellcome Trust Grant 218597/Z/19/Z.
The film reflects on the latest insights revealed by single cell analysis and was produced in collaboration with Human Cell Atlas members, Marcin Pekalski and Melanie Dunstan, based at the Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, the University of Oxford. ‘Call of the Silent Cell’ is produced by Fusion Arts and commissioned by One Cell At A Time, a public engagement project with the Human Cell Atlas research initiative that is mapping every cell type in the human body. This film was funded in whole by Wellcome Trust Grant 218597/Z/19/Z.
About the artist:
boredomresearch
https://boredomresearch.net/wp/ | @boredomresearch
boredomresearch is a collaboration between British artists Vicky Isley and Paul Smith, their work uses digital technology to create poetic expressions that respond to a developing understanding of human dependence and dominance of nature. boredomresearch have been collaborating with world leading science institutions since 2014, creating award winning artwork developed from ground breaking research, including projects exploring: natural systems, biodiversity, critically endangered and extinct species, environmental conservation and human and animal diseases. Fascinated by human interaction with landscape, their artwork brings together innovative science, creative use of digital tools and a deep understanding of the complex interplay between human culture and natural systems.
Their artwork AfterGlow, won the moving image Lumen Prize award in 2016 that celebrates the very best art created with technology. boredomresearch artworks are in collections around the world including the British Council, Southampton City Art Gallery and Borusan Contemporary Art Collection Istanbul. boredomresearch projects have been exhibited worldwide including: ArtScience Museum, Singapore; BOZAR Brussels; QUAD Gallery, Derby UK; DAM Gallery, Berlin; House of Electronic Arts, Basel; KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn Estonia; LABoral Centro de Arte y Creacion Industrial, Gijón Spain; Gwacheon National Science Museum Seoul and Today Art Museum, Beijing. |