Brandon Ballengee

Biological Abstraction Sculpted By a Changing Environment:

Tom Leavitt talked about the declines of fisheries. Our environment is ever changing...there have been an exceedingly vast disappearance of species. However, there is unconscious "scultlping" by our the behavior of our population on our environment. Brandon is a trandisciplinary artist working in biology with art with othters.

John James Audobon has been one of his "heros' as an artist, writier, philosopher. Although he is often know as a bird artist he was so much more. Brandon Ballengee has participated as a biological researcher particularly in researching amphibians. They are in trouble. Of the 5,000 speciies 1/3 of tem are declining. Amphibian deformities have been increasing.

Malamp: The Malformed Amphibian Project from 1996 to current is a artistic/biological project commissioned by Arts Catalyst, London UK. (an arts/science organization)

What can be some of the causes of these deformities? Eco Actions: Public participation in collecting specimens for preliminary and primary research experiments. He has also set up Biological Laboratories as an art installation this becomes a public platform for discussion and debate. In some cases controversy morphs into collaboration.

Parasite hypothesis is one that suggests that a parasite host onto the buds of the frog limbs causing "intercalation" causing mitosis in the genetic formation of the frog.

Brandon scultes tissue through micro surgery also causing Intercalation.

He also has done a project called RSA Experiments 2002 to ongoing...using mechanical disruptions to study regenerative response.

There are also natural causes of deformities..

Traumelia: Greek terms for "injured" and "limb"

Through Brandon's research he has found that these small amphibians actually do survive. As an artist he takes high resolution of these deformed toads and does artistic alterations by using watercolor on blown up images.... . iMAFES ARE BLOWN UP 3'X 4" from very high resolution scans.

These images have been installed at the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati in 2002 where still imagery, lab specimens, and installational exhibits work together.


He also has exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for te Arts in San Francisco. Customized Light Boxes light the xleared and stained speciments.