Bombyx Mori

Asli Hatipoglu received a contribution for the project Bombyx Mori, which is inspired by the life cycle and transgenic modifications of the domestic silkworm in textile production. The project explores the past, present and speculative future of the domesticated silkworm through mixed media art installations, video work and performance. The research focuses on topics such as current developments in the scientific research of the silk fibre (such as glow-in-dark silk production) and its implications in the future in relation to the exploitation of the species and its speculative genetic evolution; behavioural patterns of the domesticated species vis-à-vis its related wild species; thermal differences between domesticated silk and wild silk; loss of the gene for yellow blood; influence of light on the movement of the species; use of surgical silk; philosophical thoughts on the life and death of the species.

Asli is an interdisciplinary artist whose research often focuses on the relationship between humans and non-human species. She uses stories as a means to shed light on the history of our relationship with our gut microbiome and the materials we use to cover our bodies. Her work often relates to topics such as ecology and sustainability and the challenges these pose to our daily lives in complex consumer systems. Asli finds it important to critically examine how climate change and legal frameworks challenge our relationship with food and materials from nature, and how this relationship challenges the balance and survival of species in nature. She often creates interactive installations, video work and performative narratives as a way of bringing forward issues that interest her.