The maggot will answer anything – as long as the answers have been written for it.
Maggotypes is a new – and mobile – installation at the Cut/Paste/Grow exhibit, which brings together biology and art. The exhibit, billed as “science at play,” includes a petunia that has been injected with human DNA, and molds that have been made out of kombucha, which is fermented bacteria and yeast. The Maggotypes exhibit was created by the European artist Julia Lohmann as a way to bring together humans and worms in a conversation about life, movies – and the future.
The worm needs some help expressing itself. First, a curator offers the maggot a piece of paper, which has a question on it, such as, “What is your favorite movie?” The paper also contains a circle, with options forming its circumference. The worm is then dunked in wine or paint and then dropped at the circle’s center, where it has time to think before setting out across the paper, drawing a line in red to its answer.
On a recent Friday night, the worm chose “The Departed,” a crime thriller.
