Primitive Streak kicks off 2011 tour in Sheffield
21 February 2011
The original 27 dresses will be on display in Sheffield's Winter Garden until 12 March, along with a brand new and previously unseen dress created with support from the Wellcome Trust.
Primitive Streak is the product of a bold partnership between artist and designer Professor Helen Storey and her developmental biologist sister, Professor Kate Storey. The sisters developed a new language to communicate the complex developmental journey that the human embryo undertakes in its first 1000 hours through the medium of fashion and couture.
Since bursting onto the cultural horizon in 1997 with support from a Wellcome Trust SciArt award, the timeless collection has travelled the world to inform and amaze millions.
2011 sees the collaboration revived with the creation of a new dress dedicated specifically to the development of the embryonic lung. Working with her sister Kate as her guide, Helen has explored the extraordinary structure of the lung and the very fine cellular membranes that exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide from the air to the blood hidden deep inside the body. This new, challenging work incorporates bespoke textiles to evoke the feel, function and numerous processes of our respiratory surfaces.
Primitive Streak has a new website to coincide with the 2011 tour, featuring descriptions and short movies to explain the biological processes evoked in the designs. There are links to sources of additional information and also to laboratories working at the cutting edge of the field. A third section gives a glimpse as to what can happen when each of the developmental processes go wrong.
Primitive Streak 2011 exhibition details
21 February-12 March
Winter Garden, Sheffield
Guided tour: 3.30pm, 21 February, no booking necessary
Newcastle Science Festival
4 March-11 April
Newcastle City Library
*Lung dress only
15 March-11 April
Centre for Life, Newcastle
Preview event: 6.30-8.30pm, 14 March
Free:
advance booking
Image: ‘Heart Tube Hat’. Credit: Helen Storey; Photography, John Ross; Model, Connie Chiu.
