NYAB Event - Andy Diaz and Laurel Roth "Future Darwinist"

Andy Diaz and Laurel Roth "Future Darwinist"

Schroeder Romero & Shredder

This event has ended.

Future Darwinist is a multimedia installation dedicated to humanity's desire to break free from the tethers of Darwin's Laws. Modeled on a scholar's salon from a past age that has been projected into the near future, Future Darwinist synthesizes the potential of modern science with the aesthetics and enthusiasm of the Age of Discovery. The nineteenth century was an era when the wealthy elite went on voyages of discovery without sacrificing the luxury of their plush, red velvet surroundings. It was also a time of unbridled enthusiasm for scientific thought and folly, when discovery and theory progressed by leaps and bounds as overeager collectors wiped out entire species in order to fill their collecting cabinets. This exuberance can still be found in today's research climate, but the aesthetics of the Victorian era conjure a profound sense of adventure into the unknown that is more difficult to grasp with images of modern science.

No longer satisfied to work within the bounds of natural selection, the Future Darwinist strives to overcome the rigid restrictions of evolution. His collection cabinets display the best of his work. His walls are lined with the skulls of companion animals whose physiologies have been altered to please his aesthetic demands. He is surrounded by examples of his own interventions into natural selection, whether through examination of animals bred for food or with small suits designed for pigeons to disguise them as extinct birds, visually returning biodiversity lost through his own folly.

A centerpiece of the Future Darwinist study is a 6.5' x 8.5' woven Jacquard tapestry dedicated to the turning point of evolutionary forces from Darwinian Natural Selection to human centric evolution. The tapestry, titled "Allegory of the Monoceros," is inspired by the 15th century Unicorn Tapestries and weaves a tale of medicine, discovery and evolution through the ages beginning with early medicinal botanicals and ending in the gene age. Utilizing tra ditional textile design and botanical illustration and woven on a computer controlled jacquard loom in Belgium, the technology used to create the tapestry spans the age of computers from 19th century punch card to current CNC machinery. In the tapestry, a Cerberus made up of the first cloned dog fused with his genetic and birth parents sits guard at the base of an apple tree whose branch structure is based on Darwin's first sketch of his theory of Natural Selection titled "Tree of Life". The tapestry is a tribute to the new forms of life being created and the species that lose their place in the new order.