LABORARTORY

Fernando Arias spent much of his childhood in his father's laboratory looking at the microscopic world – his father was a bacteriologist. Arias was fascinated by the origins of life and this shaped his creative processes into adulthood. It also formed the starting point for LABORARTORIO, set in his home town of Armenia.

Fifteen young artists were given an opportunity to develop their audio-visual skills and use these tools to develop their ideas. The project began with bacteriologists and scientists making presentations and holding discussions with the group about life's building blocks. Following this the participants were invited to develop projects with a social emphasis. The processes and outputs were documented through video, sound and photography and a catalogue and DVD were produced. Towards the end of the two-month process the participants presented their work in public places around the city, to engage with a broad range of people.

This project formed part of an initiative Laboratories of Investigation-Creation funded by Colombia's Ministry of Culture.

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