SPARE PARTS at Science Gallery London

SPARE PARTS is the second exhibition season from the new Science Gallery London at King’s College London. The free exhibition and accompanying events programme will explore the art, science, ethics and technology that enables human repair and alteration.

Drawing on the latest research from the Faculty of Life Sciences and Medicine and the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral & Craniofacial Sciences at King’s, the exhibition examines organ transplantation and tissue regeneration through the creative responses of world-renowned artists and designers.

The distinctive new season considers the emotional and psychological aspects of living with a replacement organ or limb; organic or engineered. Developed alongside scientists from King’s College London and the gallery’s Young Leaders – 15-25 year-olds from neighbouring boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark – the exhibition will invite visitors to question whether ‘spare parts’ can exist outside the biological body, or whether our bodies can be a sum of independent parts that are regenerated, enhanced, donated or altered.

Exhibition highlights include experimental incubators hosting cellular life from Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, auditory prosthetics from sculptor Tabatha Andrews, body parts crafted from fabrics created by textile designer Amy Congdon and 3D-printed models of hearts designed by Salomé Bazin, founder of Cellule, a collaborative design studio for healthcare innovation. Video and sound installations describing the impact of organ donation are also showcased alongside the voices of patients, artists, and scientists from the Biomedical Engineering Department, the Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine and the Tissue Engineering and Biophotonics Division at King’s.

At the centre of the exhibition, immersive experience ‘The Gut’ offers an interactive space to explore the art and science of human repair first hand. Visitors can splice cacti to help them understand issues surrounding human tissue grafting, stitch together electrodes while considering innovations in biotechnology and thumb reading materials gathered for the Foreign Bodies Reading Group.

Science Gallery London is a distinctive new cultural landmark at King’s College London’s Guy’s campus. The innovative new gallery examines the great challenges of our time and brings to life new research from King’s through the lens of science and art.