METABOLON

METABOLON is an art installation created by artist Seiko Kinoshita and scientist Dr Nate Adams, originally commissioned for Festival of the Mind 2016. It is based on the research performed by Nate and his colleagues from the laboratory of Professor Neil Hunter FRS, in the department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at the University of Sheffield.

Background

After their first successful art and science collaboration, the giant GFP Origami for Krebs Festival in 2015, Seiko and Nate continued their conversations and developed the artistic concept and design of METABOLON. On gaining funding from Arts Council England, Festival of the Mind, and the BBSRC, they created the beautiful physical installation with artist Darren Richardson.

In 2018, Seiko and Nate secured further funding from Arts Council England and the University of Sheffield to tour METABOLON and their new work Aegis to 20-21 Visual Arts Centre (27/10/2018 to 7/1/2019), The Hartlepool Art Gallery (19/1/2019 to 16/3/2019), and Cheltenham Science Festival (4/6/19 to 9/6/19).

Exhibitions in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so we installed Aegis in the Victoria Works Arts Centre (18 to 22/8/20) to support the Circus-Science show 'Physical Education' and for archiving purposes.

In this touring exhibition, they have created art installations to explore the invisible nano-world that Nate researches in the lab, hoping to change peoples' perceptions towards both art and science which are often seen as incompatible subjects.