E. CHROMI
[vimeo=http://vimeo.com/19759432]
Out of all the objects in MoMA’s Talk to Me exhibit, this one wins the prize for gross-out: an engineered bacteria that, when consumed (say, in a yogurt drink), changes the color of a patient’s waste depending on the type of disease they might have. A case of salmonella might generate purple poops; colitis might result in something lemon yellow. Worms bring out the indigo. All of it reminds me of the time my dog ate my sister’s Crayolas.
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Designed by James King and Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, in collaboration with a team of scientists at the University of Cambridge in England, E. chromi, as the project is called, is intended to help doctors determine a patient’s internal condition without having to do so much poking and scraping. “It’s in an experimental phase,” says Antonelli. “But it definitely works.”
None of this means that there is actual feces on display in the museum (not that this hasn’t been done before). MoMA, instead, is making do with a striking display case full of colorful wax turds.
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