selection - The Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project

Koen Vanmechelen
Introduction
In this file, you can find more information about the work of Koen Vanmechelen and the philosophy
of this Belgian artist. It is divided in three main parts; ‘CCP – The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project’,
‘OpUnDi – Open University of Diversity’ and ‘Studio’.
The CCP forms the artistic core of the artist’s work; it is a crossbreeding project with chickens that
Vanmechelen uses as a metaphor for our society. In this first part of the file, you can find texts about
this project and some photos from installations that were presented in the past.
The second part describes the ‘Open University of Diversity’, a think tank that the artist recently
conceived together with scientists from different disciplines. This chapter is further illustrated with
pictures from some artistic-scientific projects that originated from the collaborations with these scientists.
Finally, as a third part photos from the studio’s of Koen Vanmechelen are presented together with
an illustrative text. In attachment you may also find a biography, a curriculum vitae and some
background information.
Thank you for your time and attention.
3
INDEX
1. Cosmopolitan Chicken Project������������������������������������������������������ 5-28
1.1.
Biocultural Diversity - C.C.P.���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6
1.2.
Diversity and Dualism�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������7-8
Pedigree [ 1999 - 2013 ]����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 9
1.3.
Installations [ selection ]����������������������������������������������������������������������������������10-28
1.3.1.
Against Exclusion [ Biennial Moscow ]����������������������������������������������������������10-12
1.3.2.
Nato a Venezia [ Biennial Venice ]������������������������������������������������������������������13-15
1.3.3.
Modified Spaces [ Triennial Guangzhou ]�����������������������������������������������������16-18
1.3.4.
Hybridity in Art and Science [ documenta Kassel ]����������������������������������19-21
1.3.5.
Instead of Sleeping [ Glasstress Beirut ]��������������������������������������������������������22-24
1.3.6.
COMBAT [ Landcommandery Alden Biesen / De Mijlpaal ]������������������������25-28
2.Open University of Diversity���������������������������������������������������������� 29-40
2.1.
Genetic Freedom - OpUnDi�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 30
2.2.
Projects [ selection ]����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������31-40
2.2.1.
Frozen Culture [ 2005 - 2011 ]�������������������������������������������������������������������������31-33
2.2.2.
The Golden Spur [ 2008 - 2011 ]���������������������������������������������������������������������34-36
2.2.3.
Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project - CC®P [ 2008 - 2013 ]����������������37-40
3.Studio ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 41-47
3.1.
Studio Koen Vanmechelen�����������������������������������������������������������������������������42-47
4.Attachments ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 48-63
4.1.Biography�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 49
4.2.
Curriculum Vitae����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������50-58
4.3.
Invitation Letter�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������59-61
4.3.1.
dOCUMENTA (13) Kassel�������������������������������������������������������������������������������59-60
4.3.2.
Biennial Moscow�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 61
The Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project [ CC®P - J.J.Cassiman ] �����62-63
4.4.
4
1.
Cosmopolitan
Chicken
Project
Domestication – C.C.P., 2011, © Koen Vanmechelen
1.1.Biocultural Diversity – C.C.P.
Biological and cultural diversity, or biocultural diversity, form the foundation on which the
world rests. It is also the central theme of my Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (C.C.P.). This vast
artistic endeavour deals with the fundamental philosophical and metaphysical issues that underlie
biocultural diversity: globalisation, migration, domestication, identity, hybridity, racism, speciesism,
cloning, genetic manipulation and balance.
I started my Cosmopolitan Chicken Project in the nineties. At the centre is a chicken crossbreeding
project that interbreeds pure, iconic national chicken breeds. It aims at the creation of true
cosmopolitan chickens as a symbol for global diversity. This Cosmopolitan Chicken will carry the
genes of all the world’s chicken breeds. The pivot point is off course hybridity as expressed at
this moment by my 17th generation hybrid, the Mechelse Styrian. It was born in April 2013 in
Ljubljana, but it is ready for the world. And the future. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project is
the starting point of a new form of evolution that will never end, a perpetuum mobile of genetic
diversification and recombination.
We live in a world that is radically being transformed as we speak. Not only because of the effects of
climate change, but also because of the great and final shift of human populations out of agricultural
life and into the cities. More radical than during the two former dramatic migrations in our history,
in the late eighteenth and the early twenty century, this will bring about a complete reinvention of
human thought, technology and welfare. A reinvention also of our identity as a species and of our
place as an individual in the global society. The world of the future is one without islands.
My installations and other work challenge the artificial boundary between nature and culture,
art and science. Not boundaries but diversity will determine our next, logical step in our global
development. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project has laid its foundations on the concepts of
mixing, mingling, and cosmopolitanism as indispensable elements of progress. My installations, in
which the chicken (man) and the egg (world) play a central role, highlight the different aspects of
this global journey. They reflect on it and express my firm belief that nothing else than diversity is
possible. Essential in this human quest is finding the proper ‘crossing’ and the right balance. The
ideal environment and the right meeting will mutate everything onto a new evolutionary level.
Koen Vanmechelen, 2013
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1.2.The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project:
Diversity and Dualism
Nothing is what it seems. That is but one of many - much more surprising - lessons of the Cosmopolitan
Chicken Project (CCP), a worldwide cross-breeding program involving national and regional chicken
breeds started in 1998 by visual artist Koen Vanmechelen (b. 1965, Sint-Truiden, Belgium).
Vanmechelen found that each successive generation of hybrids was more resilient than its purerbred parents. The chickens lived longer, were less susceptible to disease, and exhibited less aggressive
behavior. Also, less unexpectedly, the morphological and phenotypical characteristics were blurred
by selective breeding.
The ultimate result of many generations of cross-breeding are truly Cosmopolitan Chickens,
carrying the genes of all the world’s chicken breeds. The starting point for all these different breeds
once was the Red Jungle Fowl - the original chicken. Its many descendant breeds are all man-made
end-points, sometimes literally so, in the sense that they are infertile. Vanmechelen wants to end
all these breeds by blending them back into a new starting point, providing a chicken-breeding
example of the principle of creative destruction. But the CCP does not aim to reconstitute the
proto-chicken. It does not want to return to the past. On the contrary, it symbolises the future. The
CCP is the starting point of a new form of evolution that will never end, a perpetuum mobile of
genetic diversification and recombination.
Vanmechelen’s oeuvre is as diverse and as hybrid as the Cosmopolitan Chicken itself: it’s a unique
mix of painting, drawing, photography, video, installations and wooden sculptures, whose unifying
theme is the chicken and the egg. But, as mentioned before: nothing is what it seems. The core of
the project is neither chicken nor egg, but cross-breeding and the diversity that comes from it.
The Cosmopolitan Chicken holds up a mirror to us. Cross-breeding is a practical but also
a philosophical necessity, if not a moral duty. Today’s chicken breeds are failing; to prevent inbreeding and degeneration, new blood is needed. “Every organism needs some other organism in
order to survive,” says Vanmechelen, “If there is one secret in life, maybe it’s that everything is dual.
Chicken and egg, cause and effect, good and bad, construction and destruction: everything exists
in relation to the Other. If you pursue this line of reasoning, you might even conclude that there’s
a parallel solar system outside our own, ensuring our continued survival.”
“I see the chicken as a metaphor for man and the egg both as a metaphor for the world and as the
laboratory of the future. The egg is a protected environment and a source of life. Yet it is also a
cage, a restriction from which we have to break free.”
History teaches us that progress is predicated on daring to let go of what we already have. The result
of hybridisation is often uncertain. Do we dare expose ourselves to the unexpected? Vanmechelen
certainly does: “Fertilisation, enrichment – they always come from outside. It’s precisely the
unexpected things that are important to me. I take notice of apparent coincidences.”
This is why the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project is also an answer in progress, a work of art that will
never be complete. How the Cosmopolitan Chicken will turn out or where the program will end
remain open questions, just as what will come out of the egg is an open question, every time around.
The diversity that characterises Vanmechelen’s work is not confined to the media he uses. The
CCP involves a symbiosis of art, science, philosophy, politics and ethics. It is Vanmechelen’s way of
reflecting on the existential questions of individual identity and life, and it touches on contemporary
issues regarding globalisation, racism, genetic modification and cloning. The project invites the
onlooker to join in the debate.
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The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project:
approach and state of progress
The first-generation hybrid, the Mechelse Bresse, resulted from cross-breeding the Belgian Mechelse
Koekoek, the pride of Flemish chicken farmers, with the top French chicken, the Poulet de Bresse.
Each successive generation of hybrids comes from cross-breeding the previous generation’s hybrid
with another pure breed.
In April 2013 the project reached, with the Mechelse Styrian, its seventeenth generation; a
crossbreed between the Slovenian Styrian and Mechelse Senegal. One year before, this Mechelse
Senegal came into existence after a crossing between the African Poulet de Senegal and the
Mechelse Fayoumi (also know as the ‘biennial’ chicken). To date, the hybrids consists of regional
breeds of chickens in Belgium, France, England, U.S.A., Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico,
Thailand, Brasil, Turkey, Cuba, Italy, Russia, China, Egypt, Senegal and Slovenia.
[ You can find the complete pedigree on the next page ]
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1.3.Installations [ selection ]
1.3.1. Against Exclusion [ Biennial Moscow - 2009 ]
The Cosmopolitan Chicken – Mechelse Orloff, 13th Generation, 3rd Moscow Biennial of
Contemporary art, Against Exlcusion, curator Jean-Hubert Marin, Moscow (RU), 2009
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[ See 4. Attachments, 4.3. Invitation Letter, 4.3.2. Biennial Moscow ]
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1.3.2. Nato a Venezia [ Biennial Venice - 2011 ]
Nato a Venezia – Open University of Diversity, collateral event of the 54th Biennial of Venice,
curator Peter Noever, Venice (IT), 2011
13
14
[ See 4. Attachments, 4.6. Publications, 4.6.1. Nato a Venezia, 4.6.2. The Accident ]
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1.3.3. Modified Spaces [ Triennial Guangzhou - 2011 ]
Modified Spaces – C.C.P., Inauguration Exhibition of the Fourth Guangzhou Triennial, Metaquestions - Back to the Museum Per Se, The Guangdong Museum of Art, curator Dr. Luo Yiping,
Guangdong (CN), 2011
16
17
[ See 4. Attachments, 4.6. Publications, 4.6.2. The Accident,
4.5 DVD, 4.5.1. Modified Spaces – C.C.P., documentary ]
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1.3.4. Hybridity in Art and Science [ documenta (13) - 2012 ]
Hybridity in Art and Science – C.C.P., The Worldly House, dOCUMENTA (13), curator
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, Kassel [DE], 2012
19
20
[ See 4. Attachments, 4.3. Invitation Letter, 4.3.1. dOCUMENTA (13) Kassel ]
21
1.3.5. Instead of Sleeping [ Glasstress Beirut - 2012 ]
Instead of Sleeping – C.C.P., Glasstress Beirut, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut [LB], 2012
22
23
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1.3.6. COMBAT
[ Landcommandery Alden Biesen / De Mijlpaal - 2012 ]
COMBAT – Landcommandery Alden Biesen, Bilzen (BE) and Art Gallery De Mijlpaal, Heusden
- Zolder (BE), coordinator Lut Maris, 2012
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26
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2.
Open University
of
Diversity
Energy, Communication and life, 2007, © Koen Vanmechelen
2.1.Genetic Freedom - OpUnDi
The Open University of Diversity (OpUnDi) is my intellectual platform and forum. It is meant
to be the opposite of the ivory tower of old, a figurative place of mental withdrawal from reality,
an island of mental infertility and solipsism. The OpUnDi on the contrary is established to shape
a community of innovative minds and thinkers concerned about biocultural diversity, the central
theme of my oeuvre. Its headquarters is based in the beautiful and old Gelatines factory in the
Belgian city of Hasselt. This site also serves as my operating base.
The OpUnDi is a think tank and is a meeting place for people to discuss the core themes relating
biocultural diversity, which are found in my work. The OpUnDi must become a space for
intellectual cross-pollination, a breeding place where innovative ideas find space to hatch. Scientists,
philosophers, artists and other experts from different domains are invited to make the OpUnDi
community stronger and more diverse. The OpUnDi’s goal is to create an inclusive community
dedicated to biocultural diversity. Debates, symposia, conferences and expert meetings will be
organised and fed by work of mine that will be on permanent display in the old factory.
In this sense, the OpUnDi serves as an intellectual space unifying my artistic projects and a place
where art and science can intersect. The beating heart of OpUnDi is the Cosmopolitan Chicken
Research Project (CC®P), an artistic and genetic project that investigates the genetics of the
chicken. CC®P is an alliance with the Belgian geneticist professor Jean-Jacques Cassiman. My
project provides scientists with a unique opportunity to investigate the genetic diversity between
breeds and to assess the consequences of crossbreedings. And indeed: more diversity is a fact. At
this moment, immunity is the new focus of the scientific research of professor Cassiman.
[ For more information about this research project see attachment 4.4. ].
The OpUnDi is no fixed place. It will always be on the move, just as its creator. Its opening was
announced during the 54th Venice Biennale in the library of the Palazzo Loredan, the historic
seat of the institute of Sciences, Letters and Art. The official opening in Belgium was held in the
beginning of 2012. Since that day, OpUnDi is constantly searching for opportunities to branch out
and to conquer the rest of the world.
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2.2.Projects [ selection ]
2.2.1. Frozen Culture [ 2005 - 2011 ]
The Cosmopolitan chicken project – Frozen Culture Balance, [Ant]arcticmatters, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke [BE], 2008
‘C.C.P. - In-vetro’, Mediaruimte, Brussel [BE], 2011
The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project – Domestication, West, Den Haag [NL], 2010
As a result of the pandemic bird’s flu Koen Vanmechelen has decided to safeguard the genetic
material of his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project. He therefore freezes in the sperm of his
Cosmopolitan cocks, a highly technological operation that is made possible through befriended
scientists. This is something entirely new both within the art world as within that of genetics and
the start of the project ‘Frozen Culture’.
31
32
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2.2.2. The Golden Spur [ 2008 - 2011 ]
The Cosmopolitan Chicken – The Golden Spur, Parallellepipeda, Museum ‘M’, curator Edith Doove, Leuven [BE], 2010
After having lost a spur in a battle a rooster was treated by a surgical team. The purpose of the
treatment was to provide a bone-anchored support, on top of which a screw-retained golden spur
was placed. The operation was carried out by Dr. Luc Vrielinck at Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg in
Genk, a regional hospital in Limburg, Belgium.
34
35
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2.2.3. CC®P [ 2008 - 2013 ]
Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project – Phlebotomy, studio Koen Vanmechelen, Meeuwen [BE], 2009.
Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project – Symposium on Immunity, KULeuven, Leuven [BE], 2009
This artistic, genetic project is an alliance between Professor Jean- Jacques Cassiman and artist
Koen Vanmechelen. The objective is to investigate the genetics of the chicken and thus achieve a
new angle in developing the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project.
[ For more information about this research project see attachment 4.4. ].
37
[ See 4. Attachments, 4.4. Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project [ CC®P - J.J.Cassiman ],
4.5 DVD, 4.5.3. Scientific view: powerpoint + poster ]
38
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3.
Studio
Studio – OpUnDi, Hasselt (BE), 2011
3.1.Studio Koen Vanmechelen
The enigmatic artist Koen Vanmechelen has opened his studio in the city of Hasselt. This
mesmerising artistic place, situated in a 19th century factory, is much more than a container and a
room in which to paint or sculpt. It serves as a space for action and reflection. It is a realm where
information from Vanmechelen’s famous Cosmopolitan Chicken Project and his Open University
of Diversity (OpUnDi) collides to form paintings, installations and pictures.
The abundance of eyes, human and chicken on these pictures suggest that this is also a research
centre. And indeed, scientists from different disciplines collaborate with Koen Vanmechelen. For
example in their research to cure or stop the progress of Alzheimer’s. Art, science and philosophy
find a breeding ground in this studio.
It is tempting to consider also this vast, artistic space as the brain of the artist. As the British
art historian David Packwood does. The objects within - cages, animals, frames, lamps, paintings
and other - are “representations of the artist’s studio as thoughts, impressions or dreams, not yet
realised in some kind of gestalt or ordered pattern, as in a composition”. Just as the human brain
is constantly rewired, Vanmechelen’s studio is in a permanent state of change. Resembling a living
installation.
What is produced by this ‘brain’ is not so much a reflection on what has been, but a vision of
things to come. Occasionally visitors are allowed to get a rare insight into Vanmechelen’s complex
world. They get a glimpse and feel aware of his mental space. They are immersed in his mysterious
universe, or shall we say otherverse; where a chicken a metaphor for their own Atman or identity,
where this sublime and fascinating animal is a work of art and a mirror for the human animal and
its staggering diversity. A reflection on its strength and weaknesses.
Vanmechelen’s studio is vibrant with life. Next to the sculptures made of animal’s skins and
skeletons, are peacefully living chicken’s hybrids from his last crossbreeding experiments. Genetic
manipulations, globalisation and multicultural society are mirrored in these stunning hybrids.
But biocultural diversity is not the only aspect that grabs the visitor’s attention. The studio’s
organization, the smell, sound of the ventilators – everything will subconsciously refer the viewer to
the traditional chicken farm. This questions stands: who is being domesticated?
A final question many visitors will have is this: where does the artist breeds his animals? The answer
is: at his vast estate in Meeuwen-Gruitrode, a village some 25 kilometres from the studio in Hasselt.
There Koen Vanmechelen keeps hundreds of animals: chickens, pheasants, lama’s, ostriches,
emu’s and other. Al the animals are treated according to the best animal friendly guidelines. As the
inhabitants of his otherverse should.
To conclude, this quote from the artist in the Washington Post: “We decide what a perfect chicken
looks like, and we disregard the ones who do not fit the mold. We judge the chicken… it is against
the movement of evolution. All we know is that things must change.” That is life, Vanmechelen does
not judge, he knows.
42
Studio – OpUnDi, Hasselt (BE), 2011
43
Private view OpUnDi, 29.01.2012, Hasselt (BE)
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45
Hennery C.C.P. - OpUnDi, Meeuwen (BE), 2009
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4.
Attachments
The Appeal of the Chicken ©Koen Vanmechelen, 2003
48
4.1.Biography Koen Vanmechelen
The Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen (1965) is an internationally renowned, conceptual artist.
His groundbreaking work deals with diversity and identity. Over the past decade Vanmechelen has
collaborated with scientists from different disciplines. That earned him an honorary doctorate at
the University of Hasselt in 2010.
Just before the millennium year 2000, Koen Vanmechelen launched his Cosmopolitan Chicken
Project (CCP), a unique artistic project. Central to his work are the chicken (gallus gallus) and
the interbreeding of national chicken species into ‘Cosmopolitan chickens’. He uses this animal
as a metaphor for observations around ‘la condition humaine’. In April 2013 the artist’s ongoing
creation of a world-hybrid chicken reached, with the Mechelse Styrian, its seventeenth generation;
a crossbreed between the Slovenian Styrian and Mechelse Senegal. One year before, this Mechelse
Senegal came into existence after a crossing between the African Poulet de Senegal and the Mechelse
Fayoumi (also know as the ‘biennial’ chicken). To date, the hybrid consists of regionalbreeds of
chickens in Belgium, France, England, U.S.A., Germany, The Netherlands, Mexico, Thailand,
Brasil, Turkey, Cuba, Italy, Russia, China, Egypt, Senegal and Slovenia. Vanmechelen uses a
plethora of artistic tools for his work - from painting and video to installations, sculpture and glass
-, which includes three projects. These are: the ‘Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project’ (CC®P),
the wooden statue ‘Cosmogolem’ and the fertility project ‘Walking Egg’. In 2011 the supporting
foundations were grouped into a institute in Hasselt entitled ‘Open University of Diversity’.
Vanmechelen has presented his work on almost all continents, from the U.S. to China and Iceland
to Senegal. In Belgium his work was exhibited in many museums and other loci: the Verbeke
Foundation, Watou, Museum M and Z33. Furthermore, he participated in solo and group
exhibitions in among others the National Gallery London, Victoria and Albert Museum (London),
Museum Kunst Palast (Düsseldorf), Projects Venice (Venice), Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ (Amsterdam),
MAD museum (NY) and Pushkin Museum (Moscow). Next the Biennial of Venice, his work has
been shown at the Biennials of Moscow, Dakar and Poznan, at the World Expo Shanghai 2010, the
Triennial of Guangzhou, Manifesta 9 and at dOCUMENTA (13).
Vanmechelen lives in Meeuwen-Gruitrode, in the northeast of Belgium. He is an honorary citizen
of his native town of Sint-Truiden.
For more information: www.koenvanmechelen.com
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4.2.Curriculum Vitae
Koen Vanmechelen
Belgian
August 26, 1965
Armand Hertzstraat 35
3500 Hasselt [Belgium]
koen@koenvanmechelen.be
info@koenvanmechelen.be
www.koenvanmechelen.com
50
Honors and Awards (selection)
• Pavilion 0, Global Award, Venice, 2013
• Golden Nica Hybrid Art, Prix Ars Electronica, Linz (AU), 2013
• Doctor Honoris Causa UHasselt, 2010
• Honorary citizenship Sint-Truiden, Belgium, 2005
• Gustav-Henemann-Friedenspreis (with Gregie de Maeyer for Juul, Altiora), 1996
Exhibitions
Solo-exhibitions (selection)
2013
• Leaving Paradise, CONNERSMITH., Washington (US)
• Handmade - C.C.P., LOMAK, Tessenderlo (BE)
• The Mechelse Styrian - 17th generation - C.C.P., Gallerija Kapelica, Ljubljana (SI)
• Inception - C.C.P., Wasserman Projects, Detroit (US)
2012
• COMBAT, Landcommandery Alden Biesen, Bilzen (BE) and Art gallery De Mijlpaal,
Heusden-Zolder (BE)
• Hotel de Inmigrantes 2 – Cosmopolitan Stranger (Collateral Event Manifesta 9), Open
University of Diversity, Hasselt (BE)
2011
• Nato a Venezia, Collateral Event of 54th Biennial of Venice, Venice (IT)
• Breaking the Cage, IKOB, Museum of Contemporary art Eupen, Eupen (BE)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Art Labor, Shanghai (CN)
• C.C.P. – In-vetro, Mediaruimte, Brussels (BE)
• King’s Crown – C.C.P., Absolute Art Gallery, Knokke (BE))
2010
• 14th Generation: Mechelse Silky, Himalayas Center, Pudong Shanghai (CN)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken – Diversity, Espace Européen pour la Sculpture, Parc Tournay-Solvay,
Brussels (BE)
2009
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Conner Contemporary Art, Washington DC (US)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ, Amsterdam (NL)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project - Orloff, Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem (BE)
• Unicorn, 53rd Venice Biennale 2009, Venice (IT)
• Connection, St. Lucas Gallery, Brussels (BE)
2008
• Breaking the Cage – The art of Koen Vanmechelen, Victoria and Albert Museum, Arts &
Business, curator Mike Phillips, London (GB)
• The Chicken’s Appeal, Museum Valkenhof, curator Frank Van der Schoor, Nijmegen (NL)
• CCP Ten Generations, Galerie k4, München (DE)
2007
• CCP Ten Generations, Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem (BE)
• CCP Au Salon, Marijke Schreurs Gallery, Brussels (BE)
• The Accident, Cornice, Venice Project, Venice (IT)
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2006
• The Accident, curator Agnes Husslein, Palm Court, Miami Beach (US)
2005
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project - Virtual Mechelse Fighters, Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem (BE)
• Red Jungle Fowl - Genus XY, CRAC, Hilde Teerlinck, Altkirch (FR)
2004
• Red Jungle Fowl - Genus XY, Z33, curator Jan Boelen, Hasselt (BE)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Bourbourg (FR)
• Mechelse Dresdner, Galerie k4, München (DE)
2003
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Musée Départemental de l’ Abbaye de St. Riquier (FR)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project – Desire, De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam (NL)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project – Mechelse Owlbeard, GEM Den Haag / KunstRAI, curator
Wim Van Krimpen, Amsterdam (NL)
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project – Second Generation: Mechelse Bresse – Sex & Mortality,
Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem (BE)
• Visible / Invisible, Galerie Tapper, Malmö (SE)
2002
• Artificial Cross-breeding, Berengo Fine Arts, Miami Art Fair (US)
• Who’s Calling, Berengo Fine Arts, Mi Art, Milaan (IT)
• Smak, smak, The Mechelse Bresse, S.M.A.K., curator Jan Hoet Junior, Ghent (BE)
2001
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem (BE)
2000
• Performance Blood & Colours, Filmfestival, Venice (IT)
Exhibitions
Group-exhibitions (selection)
2013
• Tabula Rasa - C.C.P., Belgian Embassy (curated by Z33), The Hague (NL)
• Protected Paradise, Guy Pieters Gallery, Saint Paul de Vence (FR)
• Symbiosis - C.C.P., Museum de Mindere, Sint-Truiden (BE)
• Grale - C.C.P., Kortrijk Vlaandert, Kortrijk (BE)
• Cosmopolitan Fossil, The Eggcord and In Transit - C.C.P., Kunstenfestival Watou (BE)
• De Wachtkamer, Schatten van Vlieg, Kruidtuin Leuven (BE)
• Spawn - C.C.P., Murano >< Merano, Glasstress, MERANO ARTE (IT)
• Evolution of a Hybrid, Pavilion 0, Palazzo Dona, Biennial of Venice (IT)
• Under my Skin, Patience - C.C.P., White light/White heat, Glasstress, Biennial of Venice (IT)
• Inzicht, Coming World - C.C.P., (Re)Source, Beelden op de Berg, Wageningen (NL)
• Modified Spaces - C.C.P., Beelden op de Berg, Wageningen (NL)
• Re-Cyling Birth, O-Parade, Genk (BE)
• Vrouwenkuren, Frantic - C.C.P., ISPOC and Dr. Ghislain Museum, Kortrijk (BE)
• Tabula - Rasa - C.C.P., Vera Vermeersch, CC Hasselt (BE)
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• Pedigree, Hybridity in Art & Science - C.C.P., Cultural Freedom in Europe, Goethe-Institute,
EESC (European Economic and Social Committee), Brussels (BE)
• Symbiosis, Hybridity in Art and Science - C.C.P., Lieux Communs, Walloon Parliament,
Namur (BE)
• The Walking Egg, Transformation, Garage Rotterdam, Rotterdam (NL)
2012
• Hybridity in art and science – C.C.P., dOCUMENTA 13 (‘The Worldly House’), Kassel (DE)
• Instead of sleeping, Glasstress Beirut, Beirut Exhibition Center, Beirut (LBN)
• Hotel de Inmigrantes – Cosmopolitan Stranger, Open University of Diversity, Hasselt
(Collateral event Manifesta 9) (BE)
• In Transit – C.C.P., ManifestAanwezig, Kasteel d’Aspremont-Lynden, Oud-Rekem
(Collateral Event Manifesta 9) (BE)
• Without Time Frame, Parallel Worlds, CIAP, Hasselt (Collateral Event Manifesta 9) (BE)
• Coming World – C.C.P., Kunstenfestival Watou, Watou (BE)
• Inzicht and Communicating Vessels - C.C.P, KANAL – Ondernemen is een kunst, Danis and
Ooigem, Izegem (BE)
• Disabled – C.C.P., SCOPE NY, New York (US)
• Entwined - C.C.P., Breaking the Mold, Glasstress, MADmuseum, New York (US)
• De Nieuwe Gouden Eeuw, Abbey of Sint-Bernardus, Bornem (BE)
2011
• Modified Spaces – C.C.P., 4th triennial of Guangzhou, Guangdong Museum of Art (CN)
• Genetic Freedom – C.C.P., Scenarios about Europe, GFZK, Leipzig (DE)
• Glasstress, Venice Projects, Venice (IT), Oslo (NO)
• Sjamanism – C.C.P., Andermans Veren, Art Gallery De Mijlpaal, Heusden-Zolder (BE)
2010
• Mediations Biënnale Beyond Mediations, Tower of Babel, Poznan (PL)
• Schone Schijn, Beeldende kunstmanifestatie, Heemskerk (NL)
• InGewikkeld, Art Gallery De Mijlpaal, Clarissenklooster, Hasselt (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project - Feed the world, Wijheizijweihij, Vredeseilanden, Eliksem (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project - Innovations and adaptation, Dak’Art Biënnale, Dakar (SN)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken – Frozen Culture Balance, Mediations, National Museum Warsaw,
Warschau (PL)
• Art Amsterdam, Amsterdam (NL)
• Art Paris, Paris (FR)
• Arco Madrid, Madrid (ES)
• The Armory Show, New York (US)
• Parallellepipeda, Museum M, Leuven (BE)
• Figure it out?!, China China, Ceramics, Art Gallery De Mijlpaal, Heusden-Zolder (BE)
• FADA Los Angeles Art Show 2010, Los Angeles (US)
• Ant)arcticmatters, Frozen Culture Balance, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke (BE)
2009
• Lineart art fair 2009, Blikvanger: Unicorn, Showcase; Figure it out, Ceramics; China China,
Flanders Expo, Ghent (BE)
• PULSE Miami 2009, The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Pulse (US)Contemporary Art Fair, The Ice
Palace, Miami (US)
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• Becoming Intense, Becoming Animal, Becoming ..., Völkerkundemuseum von PortheimStiftung, Heidelberg (DE)
• In Bed Together, Breaking the Cage, Royal/T, curator Jane Glassman, Culver City (US)
• The Toronto International Art Fair 2009, Toronto (CA)
• Against Exclusions, The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Mechelse Orloff, 3rd Moscow
Biennale of Contemporary Art, curator Jean-Hubert Martin, Moskou (RU)
• Boer zoekt stijl, Designhuis, Eindhoven (NL)
• Glasstress, 53ste Biennial of Venice, Venice (IT)
• VOLTA Basel 2009, Bazel (CH)
• CIGE 2009, China International Gallery Exposition, Beijing (CN)
• 101 Tokyo Contemporary Art Fair 2009, Tokyo (JP)
• Superstories, 2de Triënnale Hasselt, curator Koos Flinterman, Hasselt (BE)
2008
• Kort is de tijd en onherroepelijk, Landgoed Groot Vijverburg, Tytsjerk (NL)
• Dat de verte nabijer dan ooit was, Salvator Globe, curator Giacinto di Pietrantonio,
St. Bavokerk, Watou (BE)
• Genesis: CCP 10 Generation, Zentrum Paul Klee, curator Fabienne Eggelhöfer, Bern (CH)
• The Salvator Globe, Art Brussels, Brussels (BE)
• The Cathedral – Ectoplasma – CCP, Congress Centre, Davos (CH)
• Doing it my way, MKM Museum Küppersmühle für Moderne Kunst, curator Lorenzo
Benedetti, Duisburg (DE)
• Zerbrechliche Schönheit, The Accident, museum Kunst Palest, curator Thijs Visser,
Düsseldorf (DE)
• Ad Absurdum, Mechelse Bresse, MARTA, curator Jan Hoet, Herford (DE)
• Die Hände der Kunst, Koen Vanmechelen x Mechelse Koekoek, MARTA, curator Jan Hoet,
Herford (DE)
• Ephermeral Fringes, CCP Mechelse Cubalaya, curator Filip Luyckx, Art Brussels, Brussels (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken: 10 Generations, Mediations Biënnale, curators Yu Yeon Kim,
Lorand Heg Yi, Gu Zhenqing, Poznan (PL)
• Betrekkelijk rustig, Lab, Kasteel Rekem, curator Annemie Van Laethem, Rekem (BE)
• Somewhere in the Middle of Nowhere, CCP, curator Arno Vroonen, München (DE)
2007
• Troubleyn / Laboratorium, Ab Ovo, Antwerp (BE)
• Genesis - The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Centraal Museum Utrecht, curator Emilie Gomart,
Utrecht (NL)
• Totemisimi, Medusa, National Gallery of London, London (GB)
• De Kunstkas, Bio, Verbeke Foudation, Kemzeke (BE)
• Some make – Some take, Art Köln, Keulen (DE)
2006
• Facing 1200° - Glass from the Berengo Collection, Museum Moderner Kunst Kärnten,
Klagenfurt (AT)
• DOTS, curator Stef Vanbellingen, Sint-Niklaas (BE)
• Handle with care, Pushkin Museum, Moskou (RU)
• Field Work met Hans Op de Beeck en Ricardo Brey, curator Roel Arkesteijn, Kunstvereniging
Diepenheim (NL)
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2005
• LAT, Oda-Park, curator Marijke Cieraad, Venray (NL)
• Super! curator Edith Doove, Hasselt (BE)
• Slow Art - Neue Akzente aus Flandern und den Niederlanden, Museum Kunst Palast, curator
Thijs Visser, Düsseldorf (DE)
• Two Asias, Two Europes, Duolun Museum of Modern Art, curator Gu Zhenqing, Shanghai (CN)
2004
• Cultivando la Naturaleza, Fundacion César Manrique, curator Bianca Visser, Lanzarote (ES)
• ECLIPS / 25th Birthday Deweer Art Gallery, curator Jo Coucke, Transfo Zwevegem (BE)
2003
• Le Coq, Musée Départementale de l’Abbey de Saint-Riquier, Picardie (FR)
• Beaufort 2003, curator Willy Van den Bussche, Blankenberg (BE)
• Cinecittà, Berengo Fine Arts, Filmfestival, Venice (IT)
• The Walking Egg, Shinchu Museum, Taipei (TW)
2002
• 3 FEB 02, Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens, curator Edith Doove, Deurle (BE)
• Attitude, Château du Pauly (FR)
• Cinecittà, Berengo Fine Arts Filmfestival, Venice (IT)
2001
• Secret Gardens, curator Annemie Van Laethem, Rekem (BE)
• www.murano.be, Venetiaanse Gaanderijen, Oostende (BE)
• Wir sind die ander(en), curator Jan Hoet, Herford (DE)
2000
• The Walking Egg, Arco 2000, Madrid (ES)
• Storm Centers, curator Jan Hoet, Watou (BE)
• A Shot in the Head, curator Jill Silverman, Lisson Gallery, London (GB)
Permanent Works (selection)
• Infinity - C.C.P., Sint-Trudo Hospital, 2013, Sint-Truiden (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken – Celestial body, VOKA Kamer van Koophandel Limburg, 2010,
Hasselt (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken – Time Temperature, BioVille, Campus UHasselt, Biomedical
Research Institute (BIOMED), 2010, Diepenbeek (BE)
• High-Breed, The European Academy of Gynaecological Surgery, 2009, Leuven (BE)
• Troubleyn / Laboratorium, Ab Ovo, 2007, Antwerp (BE)
• The Walking Egg – Born, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, 2005, Genk (BE)
Lectures/debates (selection)
2013
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, ISA (Instituto Superior de Arte), Havana (CU)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, CONNERSMITH, Washington (US)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Galerija Kapelica (SI)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, EuropeN, EESC (European Economic and Social Committee),
Brussels (BE)
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• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Cranbrook University, Detroit (US)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit (US)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Day for Cultural Education (by the Flemish Government, Ghent
(BE)
2012
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Tori Oso (SR)
• The Open University of Diversity, TEDxYouth Flanders, Antwerp (BE)
• The Open Univeristy of Diversity, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing (CN)
• This is not a Chicken, World Appreciative Inquiry Conference, Ghent (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Genetic Freedom, Europe (to the power of N), Berlin (DE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Bioethics Congress, Rotterdam (NL)
• The Walking egg, Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation, Yale University (US)
• Artist talk met Marcel Pinas, VUB university, Brussels (BE)
2011
• This is not a chicken, Galerie Für Zeit Genössische Kunst, Leipzig (DE)
• Modified Spaces – C.C.P., with Peter Noever, Guanzhou Museum of Art, Guangzhou (CN)
• In-Vetro – C.C.P., Symposium Transparent vision – the art and science of glass Kijkduin
Biënnale (NL)
• The Open University of Diversity, Creativity World Forum, Hasselt (BE)
• The Chicken’s Appeal, Pecha kucha, Brussels (BE)
2010
• The Chicken’s Appeal, TedxFlanders, Antwerp (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, European Conference On Computational Biology, Ghent (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Belgian pavilion World Expo, Shanghai (CN)
• Arts meets Science, Doctor Honoris Causa, Faculty of Medicine UHasselt, Hasselt (BE)
• The Accident, Debate with Professor J.-J. Cassiman, Dr. Mike Philips, Dr. Luc Vrielinck and
Peter Adriaenssens, moderator: Indra Dewitte, Museum M, Leuven (BE)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, PULSE New York (US)
2009
• The Chicken’s Appeal, 3rd Moscow Biennial of Contemporary Art, 2009, Moskou (RU)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, 53e Biennial di Venezia, Venice (IT)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project – Culture and Nature Balance Climat Change Congress,
2009, Kopenhagen (DK)
2008
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Debate, World Economic Forum, Davos (CH)
• Day of Hope, Cosmogolem, Jeanne Devos Fonds, Mumbai (IN)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Victoria and Albert Museum, London (UK)
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Creativity World Forum, Lotto Arena, Antwerp (BE)
2007
• The Walking Egg, Expert meeting Fertility in Developing Countries, Arusha (TA)
2005
• CosmoGolem, Child abuse: Neglecting the Facts, Leuven (BE)
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2004
• CosmoGolem en Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, The Jacobs Foundation, Zurich (CH)
2002
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Natural History Museum, London (GB)
Publications (selection)
• Facts, Views & Vision, The Low Countries Journal of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and
Reproductive Health. A scientific Journal of the Flemish Society of Obstetrics & Gynaecology,
June 2009.
• IVF in developing countries: an artist’s view, Human Reproduction, An Oxford Journal,
published by Oxford University Press, July 2008. Eshre Special Task Force on Developing
Countries and Infertility.
Bibliography (selection)
• COMBAT, Koen Vanmechelen, Guy Pieters Editions and Landcommandery Alden Biesen,
Bilzen, 2012
• The Accident III, Chronicles of The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Guangzhou 2011
• The Accident II, Chronicles of The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Hasselt 2010
• The Chicken’s Appeal, Museum Het Valkhof, Nijmegen 2008
• The Accident, Het Glazen Huis, Lommel 2007
• The Accident, Chronicles of The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Verbeke Foundation, Kemzeke 2007
• The Walking Egg/Born, P. Dupont, Fertility Hospital, Genk 2005
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Virtual Mechelse Fighter, Deweert Art Gallery, Otegem 2005
• Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, Barbara Simons & Wouter Keirse, Ludion Gent-Amsterdam,
De Brakke Grond, Amsterdam 2003
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Sex & Mortality, Deweer Art Gallery, Otegem, 2003
• The Cosmopolitan Chicken, Between Natural breeding and genetic engineering, Deweer Art
Gallery, Otegem 2001
Artistic-Scientific projects (selection)
• CC®P; this artistic, genetic project is an alliance between Professor Jean- Jacques Cassiman and
artist Koen Vanmechelen. The objective is to investigate the genetics of the chicken and thus
achieve a new angle in developing the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project.
• The Walking Egg; Art meets science, together with fertility specialist Willem Ombelet, Koen
Vanmechelen plunges himself into the international science world. Accompanied by a team of
scientists, journalists and thinkers. Welding his art into science and vice versa. This led to the
birth of the quarterly magazine ‘The Walking Egg’ and to innovating art/science projects as for
example ‘Born’ in the hospital ZOL in Genk (Belgium).
• Frozen Culture; as a result of the pandemic bird’s flu Koen Vanmechelen has decided to
safeguard the genetic material of his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project. He therefore freezes in
the sperm of his Cosmopolitan cocks, a highly technological operation that is made possible
through befriended scientists.
• The Golden Spur; after having lost a spur in a battle a rooster was treated by a surgical team.
The purpose of the treatment was to provide a bone-anchored support, on top of which a
screw-retained golden spur was placed. The operation was carried out by Dr. Luc Vrielinck at
Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg in Genk, a regional hospital in Limburg, Belgium.
• Lambo; This crossing between Lama, Ovambo and Labo, is a recent project which attempts to
cross in a new way and is still in an experimental fase. A first result is the installation Connection.
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Foundations
• The CosmoGolem Foundation; founded in 2010, the goal of this foundation is to coordinate the
project behind the growing series of towering wooden sculptures symbolizing children’s rights.
Chaired by Peter Adriaenssens, child - and youth-psychiatrist (MD, K.U.Leuven), honorary
member is Jeanne Devos (DR).
• The Walking Egg Foundation; founded in 2010 to support the Walking Egg Project and the
research on (in)fertility in developing countries. Chaired by fertility specialist Willem Ombelet
(MD, PhD).
• CC®P Foundation; wants to bridge the gap between art and science, through the work of Koen
Vanmechelen. It is the intent of the foundation to create the possibility for scientific research
as well as to support social projects. Chaired by architect Alfredo De Gregorio, secretary Luc
Vrielinck, honorary members Steve Stevaert, Prof. JJ Cassiman, Dr. Agnes Husslein, Dr. Mike
Phillips, Jill Silverman, and Koen Vanmechelen.
• The Open University of Diversity; 2011, an intellectual space unifying the artistic projects of
Koen Vanmechelen and a place where science and art can intersect. It serves as a think tank and
is a meeting place for people to discuss the core themes relating biocultural diversity which are
found in the artist’s work.
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4.3.Invitation letter
4.3.1. dOCUMENTA (13) Kassel
Koen Vanmechelen
info@koenvanmechelen.be
Kassel, 20/03/2012
Dear Koen Vanmechelen,
it is with great pleasure that I would like to invite you to lend us documentation
material about your work Cosmopolitan Chicken Project for “The Worldly House. An
archive inspired by Donna Haraway's writings on multi-species co-evolution compiled
and presented by Tue Greenfort” which will be part of dOCUMENTA (13), held from
9th June to 16th September, 2012. This documentation may be in video, photographic,
slide, digital, or in paper or book form and will be available as part of an archive of
materials that the viewers may look through.
documenta is more than an exhibition, it has become a state of mind. In our age of
complexity, instability, simultaneity, collapse and recovery, dOCUMENTA (13) will
focus on where we are, where we come from, and where we might be going through
artworks that are experienced as moments of depth, awareness, embodiment, delight,
intensity and poetry. This exhibition hopes to be imaginative, aesthetically involving
and intellectually challenging, and will be built thanks to the engagement of artists and
other participants. A further challenge is in understanding how the project can move
exhibition planning and presentation beyond a traditional format – from being an
"exhibition" to becoming a "constellation" of interrelated temporalities, cultural fields,
spaces, places, histories, artworks, and other possibilities of engaging with art and the
world at large.
In recognition of the work and ideas of Donna Haraway, member of the
dOCUMENTA (13) Honorary Advisory Committee and renowned feminist theorist,
we will create "The Worldly House" as a physical space within the exhibition that will
give visitors the opportunity to think through Haraway's writings and teachings in the
form of artists' materials, texts, books, and videos. As homage to Haraway, the space
functions like a concentrated archive of the thoughts that inform the exhibition, and
presents multispecies co-evolution as a key position of dOCUMENTA (13).
59
The project will be realized in a former house for Black Swans in the baroque
Karlsaue park, one of the central venues of dOCUMENTA (13) that spreads out in
immediate vicinity of the Museum Fridericianum.
The archive will mainly comprise artists' material that on diverse levels deals with the
intra-action and response between humans and non-human animals: life of all kind and
kin. The material is of great diversity but its overall relation is the focus and interests
in the (philosophical) perception of life as being of this world. This worldliness and
the co-existence of human and non-human animals is an important parameter for the
archive.
In this context I would like to present you work Cosmopolitan Chicken Project.
I would be honored if you would accept to be part of The Worldly House. I would
appreciate confirmation either by letter, fax (+49 561 70 72 76 154) or via email at
stoff@documenta.de. Julia Stoff is the curatorial assistant for this project.
With best regards,
Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev
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4.3.2. Biennial Moscow
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4.4.The Cosmopolitan Chicken Research Project
[ CC®P - J.J. Cassiman, 2008 - 2013 ]
1. Introduction
At the end of the year 1990 artist Koen Vanmechelen started the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project
(CCP). One of the artist’s goals was to come to new types of chickens by crossing different chicken
races. These new breeds would share a great many characteristics with all their different crossbred
‘parents’, thus carrying a cosmopolitan genome, as opposed to the primaeval chicken – the ‘Red
Jungle Fowl’ (Gallus gallus). It is believed that this primaeval chicken – whose habitat lies at the foot
of the Himalayas – is the source of all presently existing races, through a process of domestication
(i.e. natural selection and inbreeding) during the last 7000 years. The CCP could also illustrate
how the human genome progressively evolves on the planet. Increasing migration and exchange of
genetic material, could progressively give rise to a cosmopolitan genome of the human race as well,
hence progressively erasing the obvious outward differences between different groups of people.
Starting from this interesting concept the artist wants to expose his CCP to a thorough scientific
genetic research under the title CC®P.
2. Relevance - CC®P research
The project is unique in the world because there is no similar research, due to the simple fact that
there is no ongoing CCP that is even remotely comparable to the art project of Koen Vanmechelen.
The CC®P, which aims to study the different hybrids produced by Koen Vanmechelen, is important
because the effect of the crossings on the genetic diversity of the chickens is unknown and could
generate important insights.
This research project is also potentially applicable to the human race.
The exact same process of the CCP namely also takes place in the world population. Genomes
are being merged by individuals from different regional groups, not by the entire population
simultaneously. Even though every individual originates from the same root, mankind has a great
deal of genetic diversity – mostly individually.
The chicken is a useful model for a better understanding of the function of the human genome:
1. It is an excellent model for the study of the genetic diversity of both chicken and man, a.o. the
difference between the various chicken races.
2. It offers an exceptional opportunity for the study of the consequences of merging different races
or populations.
3. It offers a unique opportunity to identify the genetic foundations of phenotypical characteristics
of chickens (and possibly humans).
4. It may lead to the identification and the study of genes that cause frequent human diseases.
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The chicken is also an interesting subject for the study of the immune system. The defence
mechanisms of humans and chickens share some similarities.
This research subject is studied through blood samples of various series of chickens, taking into
account:
- the frequency and amount of important immune cells in the blood (using flow-cytometry)
- the variability (repertoire) of the B-cells and T-cells in the blood (using PCR and profiling)
- the polymorphisms in selected immune genes (group of Professor Cassiman)
Further, the wider context of the project should not be neglected, and specifically the fact that
the CCP can be a helpful representation for a better understanding of the genetic diversity of the
human kind and the effects of migration and the merging of various populations on the human
genome.
3. Present situation
The CC®P research has already proven that the crossing of different races leads to diversity, which
already confirms one of the artist’s hypotheses. It is also a fact that the fertility and life span have
increased. This knowledge has started an extensive study on immunity that will take place during
the following 3 years. Moreover, there are indications that the immune system of chickens could
teach us something about human immune disorders.
In 2013, a new research project entitled ‘INSTANCE’ is set up with the aim to translate the
interesting information obtained from the CC®P to a wider audience with the use of Data
Visualization techniques. In addition to displaying the genomic information, also novel analysis
and visualisation techniques will be investigated to exhibit phenotype evolution and variation of
the different breeds.
4. Researchers
• Jean-Jacques Cassiman, Harry Cuppens, Peter Marynen, Centrum Menselijke Erfelijkheid
KULeuven
• Bruno Goddeeris, Nadine Buys, Afdeling Gentechnologie, Dept Biosystemen, KULeuven
• Yves Moreau Afdeling ESAT/ Bioinformatica, Dept Electrotechniek, KULeuven
• Jan Aerts, Peter Claes, ESAT – SCD, KULeuven
• Peter Claes, Dirk Vandermeulen, ESAT – PSI/MIC, KULeuven
• Marc Proesmans, ESAT – PSI/VISICS, KULeuven
• Piet Stinissen, Onderzoeksgroep immunologie,biochemie, UHasselt
• Koen Vanmechelen, Artist, Meeuwen
INSTANCE is supported by the Art & D program of iMinds
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The Cosmopolitan Chicken
{
Goele Schoofs
Process Manager
+32 (0)495/66 67 71
Goele@koenvanmechelen.be
Armand Hertzstraat 35,
3500 Hasselt [Belgium]
www.koenvanmechelen.com