Artworks at the BMC
Three works of art were created at the BMC as part of the building project. They take up aspects of our research and collaboration and invite your own interpretations.
The works of art at the BMC in pictures
Genothek
© B. Nitz/LMU
A person is defined by the wealth of their genetic information, their genome. The Dutch artist group Observatorium compares the human genome to a library ("Bibliothek" in German). If you wanted to represent all 6 billion biochemical letters of the genome in written form, you would need the equivalent of 6,000 books, each with 1,000 pages and 1,000 letters.
In analogy to a library, the GENOTHEK is a suitable form of storage for this collection of information. Since genetic information is invisible to the human eye, the shelves of the spiral GENOTHEK remain empty. Only one book, "Volume 4721", is on display in the foyer of the BMC and shows the sequence of a gene that is significantly involved in the development of language and speech in humans: the FOXP2 gene.
Untitled artwork
© LMU
The artist Peter Kogler describes his artwork (untitled) as a "repetitive biomorphic network that can be associated with molecular, cellular and mental networks". The shape in the center, reminiscent of a brain, also refers to neurobiology, which is prominently represented at the BMC. The viewers recognize themmselves in the mirror. The network of waves in the background is reminiscent of Conrad Waddington's 'Epigenetic Landscape', which he used to illustrate the differentiation path of a stem cell. Epigenetics is also one of the main areas of research at the BMC.
na DNA
With "na DNA", the artist Endy Hupperich has created a two-part work of art .
Part 1: A blue panel painting measuring 650 x 350 cm, consisting of approx. 20 lab cartoons, screen-printed. The picture is reminiscent of a protein gel colored with 'Coomassie Brilliant Blue'. Instead of a protein mixture, a cartoon mixture was 'loaded' here. The cut-out areas in the image are reminiscent of protein bands cut out of the gel.
Part 2: The cut-outs can be found as part of the maypole, which penetrates the bridge connecting the two research buildings of the BMC. The artist sees the maypole as a "symbol of community self-confidence, sociability and Bavaria's success story as a high-tech location". He associates the blue spiral with the DNA double helix. The maypole signs feature iconographic/pictogram-like representations of research objects from various BMC institutes and divisions.