Silent Signal

Our bodies perform a soundless internal dialogue between cells using the universal cypher of genetics. These signals are fundamental to how our bodies operate and how they adapt to fight disease.

Silent Signal is a group exhibition of new animated works that explores the science of genetics, cell biology, immunology and epidemiology.

The exhibition takes you on a journey: starting at the microcosm of the infection-fighting internal landscapes of our cells, through the personal experiences and opinions of individuals and scientists, to the application of the research in the wider world of infectious disease modelling and genome sequencing.

The works raise questions about what our genetic code is, how our immune system functions, how disease is spread, and what the future applications and impact of the research into these areas might be for us all.

Each work is the result of a close collaboration between an artist and a scientist, exploring the similarities and differences in the way they work and the technologies they each use.

Silent Signal comprises:

AfterGlow by boredomresearch, in collaboration with Dr Paddy Brock (University of Glasgow)
Sleepless by Ellie Land, in collaboration with Professor Peter Oliver (University of Oxford)
Battle of Blister by Genetic Moo, in collaboration with Dr Neil Dufton (Imperial College London)
Loop by Samantha Moore, in collaboration with Dr Serge Mostowy (Imperial College London)
Immunecraft by Eric Schockmel, in collaboration with Dr Megan MacLeod (University of Glasgow)
The Signal and the Noise by Charlie Tweed, in collaboration with Dr Darren Logan (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute)

A resource pack exploring the ethical and societal context of the science will be available at each exhibition.

At silentsignal.org there is contextual material on each project, and a resource that examines the ethical and societal context of the science.

Silent Signal is devised and produced by Animate Projects with scientist Bentley Crudgington, and is supported by a Wellcome Trust Large Arts Award and the Garfield Weston Foundation