Joanna Hoffmann

The Labyrinth of Identity Variables / Labirynt Zmiennych Tożsamości
3D stereoscopic video-animation
music: Andre Bartetzki

The piece was presented at the Symposium: Metagenoms of Various Environments at the Lublin Conference Centre, as the first 3D stereoscopic display on LED large format monitors in Poland

       

The piece was inspired by the fundamental molecule of life – the RNA (Ribonucleic acid) from which, according to the RNA World hypothesis, the Big Web of Life evolved, and which today is a key tool of biotechnology and bioengineering. RNA also plays a crucial role in the phylogenetic tree, showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological species and entities.
RNA is not a static molecule but can change its shape and function according to environmental conditions.
Recalling famous drawing by Loenardo da Vinci: Vitruvian Man, a figure of a woman is inscribed in the complex geometry of the RNA. Just as athe molecule of life, it passes the labirynth of all its possible identities (coformations) to reach its final shape and function
but even its last state is unstable and depends on environmental conditions.
Referring to the primordial structural variability of RNA molecules, the piece invites us to reflect on our own identity and its meaning.
Is our identity a momentary state of data? A transient “snapshot” in larger dynamic transformations?
The piece is a follow up of the interactive project "Breath for Leonardo / Vitruvian WoMan"