Fibre Reactive

 

Donna Franklin, (left) Fibre Reactive, orange bracket fungi (Pycnoporus coccineus), silk organza, Perspex, wood, 198 x 75 x 75 cm, 2004; (right) detail.(© Donna Franklin. Photos: Robert Firth, Acorn Photography.)

Imagine clothing that grows with you. Fibre Reactive is uniquely a living garment. By its very existence, the dress incites debate over the controversial manipulation of living entities as a commodity---nature as a new interface. Artists use many different artistic tools; this work uses microbiology. Fibre Reactive is made of the fungus Pycnoporus coccineus, otherwise known as orange bracket fungus. The dress is initially supplied with nutrients that replicate those found within the fungus’s natural environment, thus rendering it reliant on technology and human intervention to survive.

New technologies greatly impact cultural construction. They rapidly shape our understanding of reality, identity and interaction with the environment. As a species, humans have separated themselves from the immediate experience of the natural world through technology. Through intervention we have constructed a “cultured” experience of nature. It is the intention of this work to rupture the meaning of garments and their role in commodity culture and instead draw attention to our own mortality. Could a living dress be dangerous? Could it consume the human body? Or could the human body consume the dress?

Donna Franklin
Australia
URL: http://www.bioalloy.org

Updated 5 November 2009