DECONSTRUCTION

This installation explores the concept of deconstruction, which proposes that language and other visual forms of communication are never entirely clear. Standardized and idealized depictions of cells create a seemingly uniform truth, yet remain ambiguous. The glass objects shown in the exhibition reconstruct fragmentary forms of the historical “The Cell” model by Will Burtin while also deconstructing familiar patterns of interpretation. Through a combination of visual elements and glass laboratory equipment, the pieces aim to avoid specific meanings, inviting viewers to explore their own interpretations.

The working title "Reaktionsräume” suggests an alternative way of understanding cell organelles as enclosed spaces within cells, where biochemical reactions take place – a definition which applies to glass laboratory equipment in the same manner.

RECONSTRUCTION

The concept of reconstruction involves the hypothetical recreation of something that no longer exists, based on preserved fragments and sources. Physical models are bound to material and epistemological changes of time. When the inscribed knowledge and the general state of knowledge – or the material knowledge and individual aging processes – become too far removed, aspects may be lost, forgotten or destroyed.

In the context of the installation, reconstruction refers to the exploration of the biographies of three historical objects and the changes in their design, materiality, staging, use and knowledge over time. Using fragments between form (“The Cell”, Upjohn Co.), sound (“The Glass Cell”, Hygiene Museum Dresden) and macroscopic film (“Intestinal Cell Model”, Übersee Museum Bremen), the installation experimentally re-contextualizes aspects of the examined objects that are no longer extant in a spatially experiential setting.