Ichor - Midterm Proposal Review

Image: David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth, Studiocanal Films Ltd, Courtesy of Taschen

 

The project proposal (and personal story) that resonated with me the most was Ichor by Brian Bowman. 

 

Methods

Brian expressed hoping to find someone to help him dehydrate his extracted blood in order to create a powder, which sounds… very straightforward. To achieve this, I would spread a thin, even layer (preferably) on a clean glass surface. After the blood dries, it may be scraped and collected using a razor, then ground per Brian’s desired consistency. Full disclosure: I’ve never dried blood into a powder before, so I think it’d be wise to do a trial using a small sample first.

 

I’ve been laboring over finding a way of articulating that I really like Brian’s aesthetic and style without saying it like that, but any other version of the sentiment sounds forced. I love that Brian is interested in a medium that is both extremely special and not at the same time. On one hand, it is obviously the life force; on the other, millions of red blood cells are being made and dying in our bodies every second. (NHS 2019) Our blood is the body’s transport system; as such, one of its many functions is to continually keep us free of illness, however, our blood may also be subject to hijacking by diseases to spread throughout the system.

 

Ink as a utility

Purely as an observer, I’m really curious how our expression as individuals would change if we were to use blood instead of ink. Personally speaking, ink and paper have always been my medium of choice, mostly for drawing. I don’t have many examples of my work on my computer, but below are some photos of 3 of my drawings taken at random times before they were completed.

 

Image: Me! Clockwise from left: spring peeper, sloth, wolves (enmeshed)

Blood as Ink

I mention my knowledge of ink only because I feel a deep connection to it — In my opinion, once we discover our vehicles of expression through any medium, it becomes a part of us. I observed that my use of ink became more deliberate over time. Years ago, I did quite a bit of letterpress printmaking in Pasadena. Since I cleaned the machine myself and had very little supervision, I got away with cramming a variety of flat-ish, non-paper objects through the press, such as: beach towels, bath mats, shower curtains, etc. I thought about how cool it may be to spread a small spatula of a viscous blood mixture on to the ink roller and print that way, however... The idea would certainly freak most people out because at the end of the day, blood is a biohazard and must always be treated with the health and safety of others in mind. When you go to print using your own ink cartridge, it may be a big challenge to find a printer who's comfortable using blood in their machine. :\

 

Ichor

Considering that ichor is known in Greek mythology as this precious, golden, life-force fluid of the gods that would kill mortals through contact; it’s ironic that it also describes the way many may respond to using another individuals blood for a non-biological function, such as an inkjet print. In other words, public perception concerning the blood of another individual may seem sacred or scary.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons / Forzaruvo94. The Death Of Talos, 450 B.C. 

 

Edit 1: I wrote this entire post completely forgetting (...or dissociating from?) the fact that I worked for two years as a bio lab research assistant and used blood every day. I worked with a keystone oral pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis that eats sheeps blood in agar (think: blood Jello). Therefore, while I wasn’t handling liquid blood every day, I handled 0.5 - 1L of it every couple of months when I made new plates of blood agar. I’m trained in lab safety since I worked in the lab on a regular basis; you have to be re-certified every year, (at least in New York,) so I take safety seriously and feel extremely comfortable handling sensitive materials. Furthermore, I’m just not afraid of working with blood or anything that the body produces. After losing my best friend in March and spending so much time in the hospital with her, blood and art is easy.

A couple of notes: I’ve found some potentially helpful research pertaining to drying blood, but most, if not all of it has a goal of reanimating the blood, which we don’t need here. For example, centrifuging a tube of blood to separate out red blood cells (RBCs), platelets and plasma seems like it may be overly complicating the process for the product Brian is hoping for. If Brian wants to work together, I’d love to ask a couple of questions** to make sure I’m totally clear on what he wants before running with it any further. My goal is to keep it as simple, efficient and safe as possible.

**Questions for Brian such as: would you rather produce a powder instead of using your aqueous blood, diluted? I’d love to better understand that aspect of it because it sounds like we’d be changing phase of your blood once to become solid, then changing phase again, back to an aqueous solution.

Image: Business Insider, India, 2014. (With slight modification of colors.)

Otherwise, I love Brian’s project and would love to help!

 

References:

Janis, Brett & C Priddy, Mariah & Defilippis, Andrew & Ayyoubi, Tayyeb & Kopechek, Jonathan & Menze, Michael. (2018). "Dry Preservation of Red Blood Cells For Storage at Ambient Temperatures."

Morrison, Dempsie B., and Alan Hisey. "The preparation of hemoglobin in a dry and active state." Journal of Biological Chemistry 117.2 (1937): 693-706.

NHS Blood Donation. (2019). How your body replaces blood. [online] Available at: https://www.blood.co.uk/the-donation-process/after-your-donation/how-your-body-replaces-blood/

 

 

Nootreats

I’m guessing Anastasia really likes gummy bears. :)

Anastasia: Nootreats is a really cool idea and I like how passionate you are about it! Have you ever seen the episode of Shark Tank with the "Go Cubes" Nootropics entrepreneurs? They didn’t get an investment, but I immediately thought of this episode upon hearing your proposal.

I :::LOVE::: how clearly your plan was communicated!   

Image: Inc.

 

Image: CNBC

 

NOOTROBOX

Nootrobox on Shark Tank