AWAKENER

WILFORD X, Temse (BE)
21 February - 10 April 2016

From February 21 to April 10, 2016, the arts platform Wilford X presents a remarkable installation by Koen Vanmechelen. Remarkable, because AWAKENER was first presented at the last Venice Biennale. From the Grand Canal in Venice directly to Temse.

A new path

"Crossing is still the key," says the artist, "but my work has taken completely new paths in the past two years." The introduction of camels, dromedaries, llamas, vicuñas and alpacas is striking. “These camelids hardly get sick and their antibodies promise to be a powerful weapon against viruses. Man is part of a planetary superorganism. It is bioculturally linked to all other species, some of which are vital for its survival. But we have to find the right bridges: in this project these are the chicken and the mushroom. ”

AWAKENER

The multimedia installation AWAKENER brings an innovative story that combines art and science. Koen Vanmechelen presents groundbreaking research into a potentially beneficial link between three very different living organisms: the mushroom, the chicken and the camelids. MECC (Mushroom, Egg, Chicken & Camelids) is based on Vanmechelen's longstanding collaboration with scientists and the unique chicken DNA database of his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project.

The artist creates an ecological circle in which the manure of the camelids is pasteurized and serves as the basic material for a mushroom farm. These mushrooms are fed to the 19th and most recent generation in the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project: the Mechelen Cemani.

 

 

 

AWAKENER/LIFEBANK at the Biennial of Venice

In 2015 Koen Vanmechelen presented the MECC project at the Biennial in Venice. Discover more in the video; 

 

Colloquium AWAKENER – Koen Vanmechelen (Wilford X, Temse, 20 FEB 2016)

Coinciding with the exhibition, a colloquium is organized. Scientists Jean-Jacques Cassiman, Marc Van Ranst and Joke Wellens go into conversation with artist Koen Vanmechelen. About diversity and antibodies, about never being sick again and genetics, about how animals can help people in the same universe.

A multidisciplinary and artistic discussion.

While the chicken has proven its scientific, medical and even artistic value in recent decades, camelids have still not met their full potential. Although their antibodies promise to be a powerful weapon against viruses.

Koen Vanmechelen