Laura Splan

Doilies

PROJECTS: Viral Artifacts

2004
computerized machine embroidered lace
16.75"H x 16.75"W each (framed)
edition of 10 + 2 AP

Doilies re-examines the lace doily as an innocuous domestic artifact that traditionally references motifs from nature. The design of each doily in the series is based on a different viral structure (HIV, SARS, Influenza, Herpes, Hepadna). The radial symmetry of the doily form is conflated with that of the enveloped virus structure. The project explores the “domestication” of microbial and biomedical imagery in the quotidian landscape. Bio-terrorism, health epidemics, and anti-microbial products alike have heightened our awareness of the microbial world. The project materializes the notion that an heirloom artifact can manifest the psychological heredity of cultural anxieties.

©2004 Laura Splan
Project support provided by GenArt New Media Art Exhibition.