{"id":202,"date":"2016-12-15T16:04:42","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T16:04:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/?p=202"},"modified":"2018-08-14T18:57:40","modified_gmt":"2018-08-14T18:57:40","slug":"chlorophyll-under-the-skin-and-in-the-blood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/chlorophyll-under-the-skin-and-in-the-blood\/","title":{"rendered":"Chlorophyll under the skin\u2026 and in the blood"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Article published 21 November 2016 <\/span>by Ewen Chardronnet<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>in Makery, Media for labs<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Article in Fran\u00e7ais<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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At Rencontres Bandits-Mages in Bourges, France, the Quimera Rosa collective presented \u201cTransplant\u201d, a biohacking art project that injects and tattoos chlorophyll to create human-plants\u2026 while appropriating photodynamic therapy used in cancer treatment.<\/h4>\n

\u201cGreen is the new red.\u201d On November 11 at the Transpalette<\/a> art center in Bourges, France, for the Entropia<\/a> exhibition during the Bandits-Mages<\/a> festival, Quimera Rosa<\/a>, the nomadic collective formed in Barcelona, presented their Transplant<\/a><\/em> project, for a transition toward a vegetal destiny. Quimera Rosa (\u201cpink chimera\u201d), C\u00e9 and Kina, dream of hybrid chlorophyll-blood running through their veins and photosynthesizing tattoos.<\/p>\n

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Presentation of \u201cTransplant\u201d project by Quimera Rosa at Rencontres Bandits-Mages. \u00a9 Pascal Vanneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Their biopunk sci-fi dream is not so new. It dates back to the 1920s, when the first scientists began to study marine organisms (slugs, worms, etc.) that nourished themselves either partly or wholly through photosynthesis generated by the chloroplasts<\/a> of algae they hosted in their skin (Makery covered this last year<\/a>). Closer to us, Lynn Margulis<\/a>, biologist of endosymbiotic theory<\/a> and co-author with James Lovelock of the Gaia hypothesis<\/a>, imagined a \u201chomo photosyntheticus<\/a>\u201d who would feed himself by sunbathing on the beaches of the solar system\u2026<\/p>\n

Even more recently, in his short story Oral Argument<\/em><\/a> published in December 2015 at the time of COP21, science-fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson<\/a> offered a glimpse of a future in which synthetic biologists find in the iGEM<\/a> Registry \u201cbiobricks\u201d that can be combined to create a synthetic chloroplast and photosynthesizing human cells. In Robinson\u2019s story, biologists modify tattoo needles to inject chloroplast-fibroblasts into human skin, like an ordinary tattoo. They start a company called Sunskin, but soon decide to make their work open source, as photosynthesis is a natural process. This disrupts the balance of the planet (for more details, read \u201cBecoming a Phototroph\u201d in the January 2016 of the journal Laboratory Planet<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

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Visitors were given a taste of chlorophyll. \u00a9 Pascal Vanneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chlorophyll tattoo<\/h3>\n

At Bandits-Mages, Quimera Rosa gave willing visitors tattoos of eastern emerald elysia<\/a> (elysia chlorotica<\/em>), a sea slug with a photosynthesizing epiderm. Unlike Robinson\u2019s synthetic biology, Quimera Rosa\u2019s is still artisanal, using chlorophyll ink. \u201cWe use two chlorophylls. The first, non-photosynthesizing, is a chlorophyll modified for nutritional use that we bought and mixed with the usual tattoo ink products [sodium copper chlorophyllin, a vegetable food dye, 100 ml of witch-hazel<\/a>, a plant often used to strengthen the blood vessels, 5ml of propylene glycol and 5ml of medical glycerin]\u201d, the duo explains. The second ink was conceived during the performance itself, using \u201ca very simple alcohol extraction, with the means at hand, to constitute a living ink, which is checked for its photosensitivity to ultraviolet rays, that we use for tattooing\u201d. C\u00e9 then used these two inks to tattoo Kina on the spot, drawing the contours of the elysia with the non-photosynthesizing ink and coloring it in with the other photosensitive ink.<\/p>\n

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Chlorophylle extraction and photosensitivity test to black light. \u00a9 Pascal Vanneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Tattooing a chlorophyll eastern emerald elysia. \u00a9 Pascal Vanneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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First phase of tattooing the sea slug. \u00a9 Maria F. Dolores<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Somath\u00e8que<\/h3>\n

This phase is only one of the phases of Transplant: Green is the new Red<\/em>, an open source \u201ctransdisciplinary bioart project on a plant\/human\/animal\/machine hybridization\u201d that will be developed over the following years. Transplant<\/em> creates a dialogue between disciplines such as arts, philosophy, biology, ecology, physics, botany, medicine, nursing, pharmacology and electronics. Based on various biohacking practices, Quimera Rosa seek to \u201cproduce changes in subjectivity and deconstruct different types of narratives that present the body as a unit. For now, these axes are: hybridizing human blood with chlorophyll through the regular protocol of intravenous injections, translating the process externally into chlorophyll tattoos, implanting an electronic RFID chip<\/a> to store the data from the process and present the body as a somath\u00e8que [collection of somatic cells], developing and connecting the body to plant sensors (environmental acidity level, specific electromagnetic waves\u2026) and body activity feedback, medical self-experimentation on condylomata acuminata<\/em> (genital warts), building a public open source database of the experiments.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Quimera Rosa\u2019s chlorophyll inks. \u00a9 Pascal Vanneau<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Becoming a cyborg<\/h3>\n

Last August, Yan had an RFID chip implanted and changed her name to Kina, a way for the Quimera Rosa member to reaffirm her \u201chuman-to-plant transition\u201d. The chip that Kina had implanted is an open, non-detectable version of tracking technology. \u201cWith its greater capacity, we can imagine new, non-standard uses for this technology. We could transform an identification technology into a post-ID technology used to hack what we call being human.\u201d Through this transition process, Yan\/Kina wants social recognition of \u201cthe loss of my human condition and the adoption of a new name\u201d, albeit with a certain irony regarding this supposedly \u201ccrazy\u201d decision:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure I want to be a guinea pig for psychiatrists wanting to verify if I feel like a plant trapped in the body of a human, so that they can invent a reigning dysphoric disorder, or if my photosynthetic desire is not just an extreme manifestation of repressed anorexia, or even if my admiration of vegetal silence is not simply proof of a conspiratorial and asocial tendency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kina of Quimera Rosa<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kina reminds us that dogs and other animals have been microchipped well before humans, and that her transition is also \u201cbecoming a cyborg\u201d, in the sense of American philosopher Donna Haraway<\/a>\u2019s Cyborg Manifesto<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first cyborg was a mouse, developed in a laboratory in the 1960s during the space race. Becoming a cyborg is above all becoming an animal, in spite of the transhumanists and their dreams of improving the human species through its fusion with technology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kina of Quimera Rosa<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI am a dog. Or rather, a bitch. Basically, don\u2019t confuse Haraway\u2019s Cyborg Manifesto<\/em> with Hollywood\u2019s Terminator Manifesto<\/em>. My desire is not to become more human, but less human. It\u2019s not really even a desire to become a plant, but to hybridize with the vegetal, to become with.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nad\u00e8ge Piton, artistic coordinator of Transpalette, reads a text explaining the RFID chip implant and the transition process. \u00a9 Amar Belmabrouk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

DIY cancer treatment<\/h3>\n

To explain their approach of injecting chlorophyll, Quimera Rosa finally confide that it\u2019s more of a biomedical experiment on condylomas<\/a> (genital warts) and the human papillomavirus<\/a> (HPV), responsible for a number of sexually transmitted infections. \u201cWe want to do a DIY experiment in photodynamic therapy<\/a>, which consists of injecting chlorophyll and projecting a laser into it,\u201d says Kina. \u201cHPV is a sexually transmitted virus, currently one of the most present, but it remains relatively hidden, and there isn\u2019t a lot of information out there.\u201d The virus is a known factor of cervical cancer. \u201cWe realized that the studies are often done on bodies with ovaries, but the studies on bodies without them are not as developed,\u201d says C\u00e9. Both Quimera Rosa members add:<\/p>\n

\u201cPhotodynamic therapy is used in skin oncology, it\u2019s a precursor. It already works very well on localized cancers, but it\u2019s not yet accessible enough. The cure rate is very high, the body invasion rate is very low. Through this medical self-experiment on condylomas, we also want to develop and distribute knowledge of this therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quimera Rosa<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So far, Quimera Rosa have learned methods of extraction and infusion. Now they are looking for collaborations for biomedical follow-up and establishing protocols for the transfusion phase. Meanwhile, they also want to do it themselves, regularly. To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n

Quimera Rosa\u2019s \u201cTransplant\u201d installation is on view through January 8, 2017 in the exposition \u00abEntropia\u00bb<\/a>\u00a0at Transpalette art center in Bourges, France<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Article published 21 November 2016 by Ewen Chardronnet\u00a0in Makery, Media for labs. [Article in Fran\u00e7ais] At…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[34],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":405,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quimerarosa.net\/transplant\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}