The Secret Lives of the Oxygen Molecule

In nature, you can often see the same patterns repeated at micro and macro scales - rivulets in the sand, can resemble a river delta seen from a plane, crowd dynamics going through a narrow passage can resemble water flow. When I studied Biochemistry at University, I used to be jealous of friends who studied humanities, as I felt that although I was learning what was going on inside me, I wasn't learning anything about what it is to be a human in society. However, I have been thinking that patterns present at molecular level, might be repeated on the human scale.

In this work, I have anthropomorphised the Oxygen atom as a voluptuous red lady, and represented her in different molecules - according to the geometry of their chemistry: Oxygen gas: two oxygen atoms are bonded together by a double bond; two red ladies link their arms forming two links between them. Water: Oxygen is bonded to two much smaller hydrogen atoms, our red Oxygen lady has a small white baby on each arm. Carbon Dioxide: the central carbon atom forms double bonds to two oxygen atoms, a black male figure reaches out two arms to one red Oxygen lady whilst both feet are held by another. All these assemblages are hidden inside lantern-like boxes, with small holes in each panel, to allow the viewer to peak in.

Oxygen has a very particular nature which inclines her to certain relationships with other molecules, yet she can perform very different roles depending on which elements she is interacting with. In a similar way, each of us has a particular nature, which will mean that we always interact in certain ways, yet depending on our environment, we can end up using that nature in very different ways. We tend to keep these different lives secret from each other.