Exploring the Invisible

Back in July, we promised we would pass on more details when Exploring the Invisible – a Wellcome Trust funded collaboration between artist Anne Brodie, microbiologist Dr Simon Park and curator Dr Caterina Albano of Artakt – was installed at the Old Operating Theatre, St Thomas Street, London, SE1.

This event is now scheduled for 4th – 8th December, culminating in a live installation, with human photographic projections appearing on the Old Operating Theatre’s ancient operating table.

Using photography lit by bacterial bioluminescence – and drawing on the personal papers of Joseph Lister held in the Wellcome Library – Exploring the Invisible investigates the complex ties between human health and microscopic bacteria. From the project’s publicity:

Lister was an early pioneer of the use of antiseptics in surgery and the connection between bacteria and infections, together with the modern application in biomedical research of the bacterial gene responsible for emitting light, made it particularly fitting that bacteria should help to shed light – quite literally – on Lister’s life and work.

For more details, please see the Old Operating Theatre’s website.