A LETTER FROM THE ARTIST
// Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Brooklyn

The late astrophysicist Stephen Hawking once observed that “what we normally think of as ‘life’ is based on chains of carbon atoms.”

Carbon has the unique ability to easily form and dissolve stable bonds with itself and other elements like oxygen and hydrogen to create numerous compounds (tens of millions and counting) which make up everything from DNA to proteins to membranes and microprocessors. From fungi to falcons, cyanobacteria to seahorses, all life owes its existence to carbon and its ability to form connections.

We are naturally drawn to the tangible and the solid. That which stands on its own. But nothing truly exists without infrastructure and support. Muscles are useless without bones to pull against and ligaments to attach to. Code sits dormant without servers to run on and data to pull from. Nations need ambassadors and multiple channels of communication to bridge divides and manage conflict.  Without connective tissue, we are just a collection of parts laying useless on the side of the road.

CONNECTIVE TISSUE uses scientific phenomena to explore the human experience. You don’t need to have a STEM background to appreciate the work, but a sense of curiosity will definitely help. And don’t be afraid to touch and engage with the work. That’s what it's meant for.

This exhibition is an exploration of the different ways we form relationships and leverage interactions to create motion, meaning, and impact. We live in an era where a new story, a new feature, a new meme can reach hundreds of millions of people in mere days. We have access to technology that goes beyond what sci-fi writers could have dreamed of. But we are not untethered from history. The legacies of the past, the oppression and insults of history, echo in our present and imprint on our future, unless we can examine it for what it truly is and write ourselves a new path forward.