Your large-format installation The red silk of fate is inspired by the legend in many Asian cultures that a red silk cord connects two people who are destined for each other. Sputniko! has created a “shrine” made of red silk – but not just any silk. In collaboration with a professor at the University of Tokyo, the silk used for the panels of the work comes from genetically modified silkworms that contain oxytocin, the “socially bonding love hormone.”
The work is also accompanied by a video created by Sputniko!, in which Sputniko! also plays the main role. Red Silk of Fate – Tamaki’s Swarm is the story of a scientist who modifies silkworms to produce silk that makes her lover fall in love with her, and the song that accompanies the video was written and sung by Sputniko!.
“The works were inspired by the mythological concept of the red thread that connects lovers and is found in Chinese, Japanese and Korean culture,” says Ozaki. “The delicate red thread symbolizes both the fragility and passion of love.”
Japanese multimedia artist, designer and singer-songwriter Sputniko!Credit: Mommy Arai
After reading research papers on bioengineering, she came across the work of Professor Hideki Sezutsu, who genetically modified silkworms to produce silk that glowed red and green, using genes from glowing jellyfish and corals. (The work is beautiful in itself, but when viewed through special yellow glasses placed next to the installation, the flowers embroidered on the panels glow.)
“In collaboration with Sezutsu, we genetically modified silkworms to produce red silk with oxytocin. The installation is made of embroidered silk fabric made from this genetically modified silk,” she says. “With this work, I want to encourage reflection on love and connection, and imagine how future biotechnologies will create creatures that we thought only existed in mythologies.”
In just a few months, these silkworms, which Ozaki says still produce silk in the lab, have produced an entirely new living organism that previously existed only in Asian mythology.
The installation of Sputniko! The red silk of fate at the Science Gallery Melbourne.Credit: Matthew Stanton
Ozaki’s other works include Sushiborg Yukari, a cyborg serving sushi on a rotating conveyor belt, satirizing the Japanese practice of serving sushi on naked women, and Menstrual machinea wearable device designed to simulate the pain and bleeding of a five-day menstrual cycle.
“My work combines technology and art because I have always been fascinated by how technological advances shape our society and impact our daily lives,” she says. “My goal is to create thought-provoking works that challenge conventional perspectives and stimulate discussions about the future.”
Many of the works in the exhibition also turn myths about women on their head, such as Namahage in Tokyo by Etsuko Ichihara, who reimagines Namahage, a demon from Japanese folklore who traditionally menaces lazy children. In Ichihara’s reinterpretation in a video installation (the costume she designed for the video is also on display), Namahage becomes a futuristic creature that hunts down and punishes adults who have made derogatory comments about women online by hacking into their minds.
The film installation work of Wemba Wemba and Gunditjmara artist Paola Balla Mok Mok Murrup Yakuwa does the same with a First Nations legend.
A still from Paola Balla’s work Mok Mok Murrup Yakuwa.Credit: Penny Stephens
First commissioned for the Rising Festival 2023 Shadow Spirit The piece transforms the Wemba Wemba character Mok Mok (pronounced “Mook Mook”) from a frightening old hag who sings to babies and children into a sovereign goddess and protective figure.
“Ghost stories and spiritual beings are a big part of blackfella life, and Mok Mok was a big part of my childhood,” says Balla. “But I wasn’t afraid of her, even though she was scary. I was more fascinated by her because she was a female being that men were afraid of. I was told that she was a female being who could punish men who broke the law.”
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In Balla’s film, which is set in a tent-like structure made of fabric dyed with bush ingredients, Mok Mok is portrayed by her mother as a ghostly figure who, while not frightening, is elevated to the status of a “fierce and fearless black feminist.”
“What fascinated me was the fact that it was her independence that made her so terrifying,” says Balla. “And I wanted to play with that idea and bring it into the present.”
The whole exhibition is about bringing such myths, philosophies and stories “into the present with the help of science and technology,” says Tilly Boleyn, co-curator in Melbourne.
And many of the works are about reshaping the narratives around women and putting them “in the powerful position of protectors – or just as badass guys.”
SCI-FI: Mythologies in Transition is at the Science Gallery Melbourne until February 2025. sciencegallery.org
