_The Immortalisation of Billy Apple®_ is a collaborative art project by Craig Hilton and Billy Apple® where the artist works in the service of science and science serves the artist to enhance and protect the artist's his brand by immortalizing his biological tissue for perpetuity. The transaction ensures that the brand (and the artist) can theoretically last forever, unconstrained by death, and that Billy Apple® cells are available for scientific research. Billy Apple® B-lymphocytes were isolated and grown in tissue-culture media. These cells were then virally transformed and now grow indefinitely in the culture medium. Without this transformation, the cells, like the artist they are derived from, have a limited life span. This artist’s biological tissue will not die and his reproductive potential is now unlimited.

For the project launch on May 6, 2010, attended by New Zealand scientists, artists and those interested in the business of both, the immortalized cells, housed in a container that mimics the precise environmental conditions present in the artist’s body, were installed at Starkwhite Gallery, Auckland.
Foreshadowing another phase of this evolving project, the Billy Apple® cell line is being used in studies that will directly benefit cancer and immunology research as well as continuing the conceptual work of Billy Apple.

_I consent to the wide distribution of cell lines derived from my blood, including deposit with the American Type Culture Collection cell bank. I understand this may enable unrestricted use of my cells in research outside my control, including the potential analysis of my DNA. (Billy Apple 12/05/2009)_

The immortalized cell line is to be lodged with the American Type Culture Collection, making this a resource available for both artists and scientists and thereby creating further opportunity for dialog and an interdisciplinary opportunity highlighting the ongoing nature of this project and immortality of these cells.


Links: http://www.galileosfinger.net/the-immortalisation-of-billy-apple

_The Immortalisation of Billy Apple®_ is entirely dependent on the goodwill and understanding of Associate Professor Rod Dunbar, School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland. The project collaborators also wish to acknowledge the support of: Starkwhite Gallery, Daniel Verdon, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand.

Craig Hilton (NZ) is a scientist and artist who has a PhD in genetics and biochemistry and an MFA from the Elam School of Fine Arts. He is particularly interested in art/science collaborations, i.e. those with genuine art and science value/outputs; how art might be able to contribute to dialog regarding science, molecular biology, biological discovery, biotechnology etc., and the cultural implications of the these revolutionizing technologies. Billy Apple (NZ), born Barrie Bates in 1935. Since the early 1980s, Apple has complemented his installation practice with text-based works that draw attention to the art system and highlight the network of relations that operate between artist, dealer and collector. He became a registered trademark in 2007, formalizing his art-brand status, and he continues to develop projects that address this.