AGRIEBORZ, 2009-2010
fabLAB
Courtesy of the artist
For AGRIEBORZ, Nick Ervinck used imagery of human organs that he found in medical manuals as construction materials to create an organic form, a larynx (or voice box) 'gone wild'. Though imaginary, AGRIEBORZ seems to retain some familiarity due to its visual connection to human organs, muscles, nerves, etc. Any coherent organization or structure, however, is lacking. The image becomes ungraspable, hovering in a virtual, potential or science-fictional world.
AGRIEBORZ was largely inspired by the conversations Nick Ervinck had with two professors at KU Leuven: Pierre Delaere, a professor researching the larynx, and Koen van Laere, whose research is situated in neurology and nuclear medicine. This cross-fertilization inspired the image of a perfectly symmetrical cyborg figure.
A sculpture like AGRIEBORZ not only points to the growing tendency of integrating technology in the human body, it also plays with the intriguing possibility to use living tissue as technological material. Bio printing, a new technology used to print organs, will be further developed and commercialized. Working in a close parallel to science, Ervinck is able to develop new realities that can in turn inspire scientists.
Private Collection: Mr. and Mrs. Freddy Huyghe, Vernue
