SUZANNE ANKER
Employed as a container for working with fungi, bacteria and even embryos, the glass dish named after bacteriologist Jules Petri is not only a fundamental of laboratory research it’s become a cultural icon.
In my Remote Sensing series I use the Petri dish to juxtapose microscopic and macroscopic worlds. The title refers to new digital technologies that can picture places too toxic or inaccessible to visit.
The fabrication of this piece began with 2-D digital photographs, which were then converted into 3-D virtual models. This petri dish with its luxuriant growth emerged from the 3-D printer.
These micro-landscapes offer the viewer a top- down topographic effect assembled by zeros and ones. Each configuration of these works takes the geometry of a circle, inspired by the Petri dish, and crosses the divide between the disciplines of art and science.