GIFTS/PRESENTS/PRESENCE
Meanings and Materialities
Conference – Exhibition

Cable Factory (Valssaamo), Helsinki
6–15 June 2024

Conference 6–8 June 

Call for papers (closed)
Papers
Speakers
Panels   
Program
Registration
  

    Exhibition 6–15 June

    Open every day 12:00-18:00          Introduction
    Artists 
    Program
    Floorplan


    About 
    Venue
    Accomodation
    Contact

    Instagram

    Facebook


    Cynthia Blanchette

    Shit LoadMixed materials, 2024.

    In the past, those on pilgrimages collected souvenirs of different precious metals which were said to have curative properties. Today, the term ‘parasitic souvenir’ describes the microbes one collects from the external environment during travel. Microbes as both souvenirs taken and gifted through contact produce exchanges imbued with meaning and consequence. As diseases stemming from depleted microbiomes rise, the future of medicine might find itself throwing scat parties. In the work,Shit Load, faecal microbial transplants (FMT’s) are conceived as a highly sought after curative commodity.   

    Biography
    Cynthia Blanchette is a Canadian artist-researcher based in Finland, working as a Doctoral Researcher in Contemporary Art through the Department of Art and Media at Aalto University. Cynthia’s current research interests fall into the abject facets of human-microbial-technological evolution. Within her practice she re-evaluates ubiquitous cultural/societal notions of the lived experience through the artistic practices of ideation drawing, artifact collecting, bioart, and textile architecture. This work builds upon her MA research which focused on wetlands, arguing that the bog is a concrete metaphor for the darker aspects of contemporary life and fears, and as such is considered ‘stray’.

    www.cynthiablanchette.com