DDSmol (English)

DDSmol MIKAMI Seiko

DDSmol
From October 20th, 1995, MIKAMI Seiko has been showing her work "Molecular Clinic 1.0" at Artlab, Tokyo. This is a work in which participants manipulate the atoms of a virtual spider that lives in the Artlab server. The theme of this exhibition is "molecular structures," and is a reference to the molecular biological paradigm that any biological liquid or solid can be artificially reconstructed through altering the molecular strings which compose it. In IC '95, MIKAMI is exhibiting "DDSmol," a sort of digital pharmacy for this spider.
In either work, the interface is similar. The user, accessing the work, first selects a molecule to download onto their computer, and a program for manipulating it. In IC '95, these are vaccines and other programs to be used in helping the spider survive the mutations effected upon it at the Artlab show. The user then returns the molecules to the spider's body and follows its transformations. The sum of interventions naturally affects the spider's living environment in unpredictable ways. In this context of unlimited transferability, innumerable combinations are possible, all woven together by the heartbeat of the computer's clock.
The final result is a reflection of the collision, division, etc. of each individual information environment; their access terminal, their access domain, which atomic program they possess and the resultant molecular combination. The supplementary effects or effectiveness of each individual cell's health is something that no one can predict. This project is both a test of bioinformatic processes, and a look at the unpredictable nature of both biology and virtuality.
The very process of exhibiting this first on the Internet is part of the art work itself. The differences between users' experiences, prejudices and preferences, parameter are all part of this art work. (Editor)
"DDSmol" was developed in conjunction with an exhibition for the network titled "Artlab 5: Molecular Clinic 1.0." This work invites the participant to cut off a portion of a spider's body, which is composed from numerous round elements called "molecules," multiply this portion by downloading it to a separate browser, and then selecting one of the molecules to return to the spider's body. Drug and vaccine programs are stored within "DDSmol" which can be applied to the molecules in order to multiply or mutate them. Throughout this event, the spider's appearance was in a constant state of change, clearly displaying the influence of the participants. "DDSmol" might be called an experiment in collaborative participation that makes use of the network.

RV: Real Virtuality by MIKAMI Seiko
Someone from the newspapers asked me the following question: "Until now your works, including the installations, have taken physical, tangible form. This time there is a shift to a life form within virtual space, and it seems that you have not placed much emphasis on 'form,' which has always been a major concern in fine art. What is of import in this work?" In fact, 'form' has been a major aspect of the works I displayed on the Internet, as well as for the virtual reality (VR) works I am currently producing. With respect to "Molecular Clinic" in particular, a life form is generated through fission and fusion at the molecular level and everything dynamically changes form according to the movement of tiny fragments. In terms of the body, this process can be likened to a cancer which, through a tiny cellular mutation, becomes a sarcoma and links itself to the movement of blood and the pulse to metastasize and alter the form of the body itself.
My theory is that form is created through the movement of fragments. "What is form?" In considering this fundamental question, I found that a notion from molecular biology came closest to my current train of thought: "It is possible to create various substances by rearranging molecular chains." Specifically, I discovered a commonality between the Internet, which is composed of the access (movement) of individual users (fragments), and molecular biology, which studies the movement of individual molecules and the rearrangement of molecular chains.
The present level of technology and real time transmission leave many doubts as to whether the Internet and other virtual spaces have an actual effect on our perceptions of real life and the body, but I believe that VR does provide a means for rethinking the meaning of communication. In terms of interactivity, I believe it is necessary to leave room for building unpredictability into the programming for those types of virtuality which would be mere copies of reality without some element of accidental causality or contingency.
For this work, I considered whether the molecules were things, events, or rather the congregation of different states. This line of questioning can be directly applied to life forms刮s life a thing, event, or the congregation of different states? I suspect that the potential of virtuality will emerge if we tentatively hypothesize that life is a congregate of various states of movement.
I have participated in various symposiums on the potential of the Internet and the relationship between 'virtual space and the body,' but there are still many things I have yet to understand. But there is no necessity for an individual artist to produce a work which grasps the entirety of such issues. Rather, we might be able to come to an understanding of these issues by placing the focus on minute elements. Currently, for me these minute elements are "molecules." For the time being, I believe that greater potential can be found in the Internet and artificial life through the inquiry not into "virtual reality," but rather "real virtuality."