Neurogenesis: from Neuron birth to all that we are

Neurogenesis is a collaboration between Artist Professor Helen Storey, Developmental Biologist Professor Kate Storey, and digital innovation agency Holition. Funded by Wellcome, to mark 20 years from the sisters’ groundbreaking interdisciplinary work, ‘Primitive Streak’, ‘Neurogenesis’ was originally commissioned to explore their most current research practices, marking also the developments in biology, culture and the digital world since 'Primitive Streak'. It is a work which unpredictably brought the personal and professional lives of the Storey sisters together, as the 4 year period to create it was lived whilst both women were prime carers for their father during his slow decline and fight against dementia. Captured on film, the work was completed a few months after his death and ultimately reflected both their intimate and professional journey together. The physical nature of the work is comprised of a dress at the edge of its material life, using collected materials that have been blowing in the wind by a railway track since childhood. Snagged upon a decaying branch, this is juxtaposed with original and responsive film footage of neuron birth and differentiation, taken from research in Kate’s lab – from under the hem of the dress, images shine out, in a literal visualization of the process of neurogenesis. Responding creatively to Kate’s original footage, Holition designed a space within which zones react to the physical presence of the viewer by giving them power to control progression through the neurogenesis process. Twenty years after the sisters' first award winning collaboration, where dress was used to elucidate the universal experience of how we are made, Neurogenesis takes us to the end of life and considers not just how nervous systems are built and maintained, but how biology breaks down and our bodies fail us. (Artifact, film, digital installation exhibition, website