"The wish of understanding nature has lead mankind to the development of natural sciences; these have become increasingly skilled in dissecting all parts of nature and it's inner structures. Modern genetics will for example soon be able to tell us which part of our genes will be responsible for which part of our body. And as history shows, we will not fall behind with trying and experimenting with our new acquired knowledge. The seeking for knowledge and the fascination of trials and initially innocent experiments shall be captured in GENMA.

GENMA is a kind of dream machine, that allows us to "play" scientist and as we watch our selves in doing so, it also mirrors the absurdity of this action and interaction. By using science, namely principles of artificial life, as source for creation, GENMA also wants to address the question of what it means to manipulate and what impact it will have on us in the future."

"Nevertheless, GENMA doesn't take position in the common "good-bad" classification or in the sense of "political correctness", but wants to reflect our fascination for the unknown and unexplored.

On a visual level GENMA furthermore explores the concept of "natural design" or "auto design", a design that is not any more prefixed and controlled by the artists, but represents the degree of interest and interaction of each single visitor. Each visitor will be creating the forms he wants to see, aided by artificial genetics, mutation, evolution and manipulation. To push it further, the audience thus will become "creators" or "artists" themselves, using the power and possibilities of such tools.

GENMA is not a tool in the scientific sense. Its only purpose is to reflect on itself as an autonomous system, that uses science to emphasizes the question of what it means to manipulate, change and interact."

To visit a website containing information on several of Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau's works including this one, click here.