Foreign Body exhibition officially launched

Foreign Body, an exhibition by visual artist Judy Foley that explores the high-tech medical implant as a handcrafted object, was officially launched on Thursday 14th March in the O’Reilly Foyer of the Hamilton Building at Trinity College Dublin. The exhibition was launched by Anne Mullee, curator of The Courthouse Gallery and Studios, Ennistymon, Co. Clare, with introductory remarks delivered by Bruce Murphy, Associate Professor in Biomechanical Engineering.

The exhibition explores the high-tech medical implant as a handcrafted object and contextualises it as an artefact. Judy Foley observes that the high-tech medical device employs a highly sophisticated technology, yet the industry method for its manufacture depends on a process that relies significantly on handcrafting.

In conversation with Anne Mullee, Foley commented: “I find it poignant that the very technology used to fundamentally alter and transcend the human condition relies on the ancient craft of hand dewing for its manufacture. We are working towards a post-human ideal, yet we haven’t successfully shed our reliance on the workings of the body.”

 The project has been facilitated through interdisciplinary collaboration within the team working under Bruce Murphy, who, in addition to his role as Associate Professor in Biomechanical Engineering is also a funded investigator at Trinity College Dublin’s AMBER Centre (the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Advanced Materials and BioEngineering).

The work, which takes the form of 3D structures and drawings, is supported by the Trinity College Dublin Fund for the Visual and Performing Arts and is being hosted by Trinity Research & Innovation and the School of Computer Science and Statistics in the O’Reilly Foyer until 28th March 2019.

For more information on Judy Foley’s work please visit http://judyfoley.ie/

Anthony O'Callaghan March 2019