Bloodwork I

2018

Blown Glass, Magnets, Aluminum CNC frame, electrical motor
100 x 100 x 100 cm

Collaborators: Jane Prophet & Victor Leung

Horseshoe crab blood is blue due to the copper-based protein called haemocyanin that transports oxygen; the haemoglobin in human blood contains an iron-containing iron protein for the same purpose and turns blood red. In Blood Work 01, we amplify the metallic components in these two species’ blood, using iron and copper to create the red and blue coloured liquids. These copper and iron infused liquids coexist in the sculpture to reflect how human blood is entangled with horseshoe crabs’ blood,which has been used to produce vaccines and injectable medications for the past 40 years to detect toxins that cause fever.

Technological developments of alternate tests and changing inter species relations have not stopped the use of horseshoe crabs’ blood which has recently been an essential element of every COVID-19 vaccine produced.Exhibition texts with information about horseshoe crabs enable visitors to comprehend how the artwork accounts for the blurred boundary between human and nonhuman and draws attention to uneven power relations between the species.