For centuries, the great monotheistic religions such as Catholicism proliferated stories about autonomous human mastery over all other organisms. Touting that man was made in God’s image has blinded us to the fact that we are indeed interconnected to nature and that our histories have been influenced by non-human species. *[ir]reverent* is an artwork that examines the impact of invisible microbial agents on the course of human history and belief systems. Specifically, this artwork creates a “miracle” employing Serratia Marcescens, a microorganism that grows on bread and creates a viscous fluid that has an uncanny resemblance to blood.

Countless historical accounts of blood flowing from bread were recorded during the classical period of antiquity, the middle ages as well as modern times. Blood miracles were used as a complex anthropogenic currency to justify everything from corrupt human conquests and evidence of divine agency, to anti-Semitic persecution.

Physically, the installation consists of a bio-incubator inspired by medieval Roman Catholic monstrances. A Eucharist host is placed in the oculus; then micro-droplets of media containing a strain S. Marcescens are delivered to the bio-incubator. Over the course of two days the inoculated host will incubate the microorganism causing the bread wafer to “bleed,” thus producing a blood “miracle on demand” similar to those seen in churches centuries ago. The installation intends to destabilize human exceptionalism by questioning how human entanglement with other species shape our histories, stories, and myths and therefore redefine our ontological status.

Links: http://adamwbrown.net/projects-2/irreverent/

Special Thanks:
Robert Root-Bernstein, Kaz Kashefi, Andrew Baker
The Physics and Astronomy Machine Shop, MSU
Scott Bankroff – Laboratory Glass, MSU
Funding provided by:
Humanities and Arts Research Program, Michigan State University
The College of Arts and Letters Summer Fellowship, Michigan State University

Adam Brown (US) is an internationally recognized artist, scholar, and educator whose work incorporates art and science hybrids including living and biological systems. Brown has exhibited in international venues including Kapelica Gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia; ZKM, Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe; Ars Electronica, Linz; Synth-ethic, Vienna; ZeroOne, San Francisco; Brazilian Biennial Emoção Art.ficial 5.0, Sao Paulo. His work has been written about widely in publications such as the *New York Times*, *Wired*, *Nature*, *Sculpture Magazine*, *Washington Post*, *Forbes*, *PNAS*, and *Discover*. Brown currently is an Associate Professor at Michigan State University where he directs the BRIDGE Artist in Residency.