Heidi Holmes
(I’m pretty sure) There will be no Science Baby
2016
Domestic doorway dimensions, rotten flower fragrance oil, the distance between the artist’s vagina and the earth, wax, wick, flame, pressed, dried and ground hydrangea flowers, varnish, Tim’s voice, the artist’s voice, 9 failed attempts at In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). In the bathroom: Soap, rotten flower fragrance oil, crystal bowls.
Dimensions variable
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“Hi Heidi and Tim. It’s Doctor ******* ******* here just ringing to see, say that I see that it was negative result, unfortunately, and just ter, ter, just to discuss where to from here. Ahhh, um certainly as far as egg number and embryo number we did much better with the flare cycle, um, we could consider doing that. Aaaaaah I know we’ve talked previously about biopsy-ing the embryos, ummm that would be a possibility if we had enough embryos to biopsy. It’s more useful if we’ve got a lot of embryos to choose from. Um, the other thing I wanted to introduce the concept of is even thinking about using donor eggs ummm at some stage, sooo if you wanna give me a call back at some stage and we can have a chat about that. All the best. Bye.”
(I’m pretty sure) There will be no Science Baby is an exploration of the artist’s experience of her body and mind within her ongoing process of baby-making, failing fertility and the resulting process of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
The exhibition, (I’m pretty sure) There will be no Science Baby, occurred at West Space Gallery, Melbourne, Australia, September 2016
Notes:
The gallery space was reconstructed (renovated) to reflect a domestic space. The doorways were altered or filled in and the window was shrunk.
Two sound works were located in the walls of the space, without indication of where they might be. Patrons can only locate the sound by pressing their ear to the wall.
The candle was tinted to reflect the colour of my skin and was scented with rotten flower fragrance. The height of the candle is the same height that my vagina is from the earth. The candle was lit on the first day of the exhibition and extinguished itself on the last day of the exhibition.
The surface of the walls are covered with dried and ground hydrangea flowers. These are the flowers from the previous exhibition. The walls have been varnished to hold the flower groundings in place.
In the bathroom of the gallery is a selection of soaps that have been cast in the shapes of babies and have been scented with the rotten flower fragrance. Patrons are able to use the soap if they wish.