Zbigniew Oksiuta - Studiolo. Cosmic gardens

Studiolo (Italian) means a small studio, a study that serves for learning, experiments and research. It gained popularity in the era of the Renaissance, however, it derives from the Middle Ages, when it was termed to deine the space for alchemical experiment. In this sense, the studiolo is the origin of a modern laboratory. During „Studiolo. Cosmic gardens” exhibition we will present contemporary studiolo, an experimental space for research and plant growth in an unusual conditions. Plants and plant tissues will be grown in a sterile environment and subjected to variable forces of gravity, light and hormones in order to breed plants characterised by new functions, as well as forms and shapes not occurring in nature.

The exhibition is prepared in cooperation with the Intercollegiate Faculty of Biotechnology of University of Gdańsk & Medical University of Gdańsk

Head of the Department of Biotechnology and the Plant Protection and Biotechnology Department: prof. Ewa Łojkowska

Consultations in the field of biotechnology: dr Anna Ihnatowicz and Izabela Perkowska

Realization in the field of biotechnology: MSc Izabela Perkowska and students: Izabela Kowalczyk, Klaudia Kochanowicz, Michał Prusiński , Michał Strzała

The project was co-financed from the funds of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Zbigniew Oksiuta is an artist, architect and researcher born in Mulubice in the Bialystok region. In the years 1970-78 he studied at the Faculty of Architecture of the Warsaw University of Technology. In the years 1981-2010 he lived and worked in Cologne, Germany. From 2010 he lectures at the Faculty of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York in the USA. The artist is working on a vision of the biological future. His projects are interdisciplinary interpenetration of elements of art, architecture and natural sciences. He took part in many international exhibitions, including: at the Center for Contemporary Art in Warsaw, at the International Design Fair in Cologne, at ArchiLab in Orléans in France. In 2004, he represented Poland at the group exhibition at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. He presented his projects at Ars Electronica in Linz in Austria, at the Biennale of Electronic Art in Perth, Australia, at the FACT Foundation for Arts and Creative Technology in Liverpool in Great Britain, at the Biennale for Electronic and Unstable Art in Stavanger, Norway, at the Arsenal Gallery in Bialystok and the Broad Art Museum in Lansing in the USA. He was a guest lecturer at many international universities, in artistic and scientific institutions.