Super Cells Infinite forms the final part of the Super Cells series initiated by HUMAN AWESOME ERROR member Fukuhara Shiho’s breast cancer diagnosis. Crossing the narrative nature of art with the objectivity of science, and conducted in partnership with hospitals and research institutions, the project has seen Fukuhara take her own cancer cells from hospital to grow them and observe how they interact with regenerative immune cells made from her own blood. The project now exhibits this process as well as video interviews with researchers and patients.
Super Cells Infinite is an exhibition marking the conclusion of the titular project by HUMAN AWESOME ERROR, one of the 2024 CCBT artist fellows and known for its practice exploring poignant perspectives through system errors. Super Cells was initiated in 2021 when HUMAN AWESOME ERROR member Fukuhara Shiho was diagnosed with breast cancer. The project forms an attempt to understand various questions and issues that emerged over the course of coming to terms with cancer—what cancer actually is and the fact that everyone generates potentially cancerous cells on a daily basis—and to share those with others and so make them more accessible. The exhibition Super Cells Infinite is the final iteration of the series. Instead of viewing cancer cells as just the source of ill health, it focuses on their potential and strength, and creates opportunities to think anew about the meaning of our bodies, lives, and identities.
The process of attempting to use cells from a human—ordinarily stored and used solely for the purposes of medical treatment and research—for an art project involved the complex intersection of ethics and institutions in the medical care and science fields. The exhibition traces the course of the project and the views and ideas that emerged. It comprises the process of this endeavor and the cells as described from the personal perspectives of cancer survivors and their families, and from the perspectives of science and research ethics as shared by the researchers who helped with the project.
Related events during the exhibition include a DIY bio workshop and talks with experts in regenerative medicine and other areas.
Combining individual narratives woven from experiences and sensations with the objectivity of science, the project spurs us to reflect on the ownership of cells, ethics, and social systems. From it emerges a new view of life that reconsiders the meanings of our bodies, lives, and identities.
Super Cells Infinite
What happens when a HUMAN AWESOME ERROR member’s own cancer cells face off against regenerative immune cells derived from iPS cells grown in blood? Starting from that question, this project features an exhibition based on communication with cancer patients and regenerative medicine researchers, as well as a workshop to make artificial cells and talks about the reality of the self in terms of isolated cells. It explores cell ownership, ethics, social systems, and more through the lens of cancer. A whole new way of looking at cancer unfolds, created by HUMAN AWESOME ERROR, which uncovers intriguing “errors” in humanity and nature, and engages in re-perceiving the world through art.
CCBT Art Incubation Program
One of CCBT’s core programs, the Art Incubation Program provides opportunities for creative talent to undertake new projects and makes those processes accessible to the public, facilitating forms of artistic expression, exploration, and action that change our city for the better. Selected through an open call, five artist fellows will act as CCBT partners, developing their projects, making the creative process public, exhibiting the results, and holding workshops and talks.
Details: CCBT Art Incubation Program
