Interface is a residency programme for visual artists, musicians, writers and dancers, located in the Inagh Valley, in the heart of Connemara, on the West coast of Ireland. The studio is located in premises shared with the Inagh Valley Trust, which drives a number of innovative scientific research projects. Interface offers artists an opportunity to engage with a unique environment and to be inspired by the exciting research taking place in a spectacular landscape. We will present work My Immortals by Jasmin Märker.
Jasmin Märker is a Belfast-based, German born interdisciplinary artist. Her primary material interest lies in the microbial kingdoms. By engaging with fungal and bacterial cultures she seeks analogies to societal cultures, exploring relevant scientific concepts and their philosophical paradigms.
Often the outcomes of her work manifests as sculptural installation combining organic, clinical and DIY-aesthetic. The work frequently involves performative elements, as she reflects on the cultural and scientific processes that presuppose our understanding of nature.
My Immortals is a silk wall hanging reminiscent of a Thangka painting featuring a Mandala as centre-piece. Like a traditional Mandalas this work is a symbolical representation of the cosmos, a microcosm of the universe. Instead of paint or sand, though, the patterns are made up of images of the microbes Jasmin has cultured from her own body (ear, armpit and gut) and her environment (dog, shower, sinks, fridge, soil) and slime-mould and mushroom cultures while on residence at Interface in October 2017.
Thereby the artist considers the powerful role the trillions of invisible creatures play who live around and within us. Subverting this spiritual imagery she alludes to prokaryotes as our creators, who continue to lead our path by influencing our health, thoughts. sexuality and emotions as residents of our microbiome.

'Surfacing' is a work by artist Alannah Robins and dancer Linda Schirmer. Using the large tanks at the facility, they explore qualities of water, of submersion and surfacing through dance, projection and film.