ANSWER SHEET
‘The Young Family’ is a sculptor made out
of a combination of materials such as
silicone, fibreglass and human hair.
Piccinini is attempting to get everybody to
question or think about the consequences
of biological engineering. An audience of
objective observers would relate to this
work very differently to relatives of family
that have diseases in which biotechnology
could save them.
The artist created the sculpture using a
combination of materials such as silicone,
fibreglass and human hair.
‘The Young Family’ was first exhibited in
the Australian Pavilion in the Venice
Biennale in 2003 and is often exhibited in
art galleries. The work is open to the
general public however the main audience
would mainly be people interested in art
and have some level of art knowledge.
‘The Young Family’ allures people in
because of it very realistic appearance,
however when drawn closer the audience
notices it is a dream-like, obscure creature
that has been imagined by the artist and
begin to have feelings of disgust or pity
towards the creature.
Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist who
works across a range of mediums such as
drawing, photography, sculpture and
digital media.
Patricia Piccinini’s intention in the artwork
‘The Young Family’ is to express the
expectation we have of growing human
organs in other species, especially pigs.
The human like realness of the skin along
with the pig like representation of the
teats and ears symbolises the idea
scientists have on growing human organs
in other species such as pigs. Piccinini is
starting to question the bioethics we have
when it comes to science and technology.
The artwork begins to get the audience to
question a strange new world of artificial
or mutant beings derived from
experimental biotechnology
The audience, at first glance, could be
disturbed by the creature due to its
obscure appearance however when
looking at all the similarities the creature
has with humans and how life like it
appears an audience could start to feel
pity or empathy.
Piccinini was influenced by the world of
science and biotechnologies. She was
inspired by the idea of the ‘artificial’ world
merging with reality and her own personal
fantasy of what the future will become if
we continue to progress in biological
engineering.
The artwork is titled “The Young Family’ or
‘We are Family’, it was made in 2003 for
the Venice Biennale.
Piccinini is interested in the boundaries
between humans, other animals and
biologically engineered species; between
the real, the imagined and the
scientifically possible.
Patricia Piccinini was influenced by the
current research into biological
engineering and cloning that is being done
by scientists. Her artworks also contain a
dreamlike quality and have ties with
surrealism. The creature in ‘The Young
Family’ has certain similarities to the dead
creature in Salvador Dali’s ‘The persistence
of memory’.
‘The Young Family’ portrays Piccinini’s own
fantasy world of a type of hybrid that
crosses a human with the genetics of a
different species. Her work exhibits a
dream-like quality and what Piccinini’s
imagination believes to be the future of
the world of science.
THE
CONCEPTUAL
FRAMEWORK:
‘The Young Family’ is a sculptor made out
of a combination of materials such as
silicone, fibreglass and human hair.
Piccinini is attempting to get everybody to
question or think about the consequences
of biological engineering. An audience of
objective observers would relate to this
work very differently to relatives of family
that have diseases in which biotechnology
could save them.
The artist created the sculpture using a
combination of materials such as silicone,
fibreglass and human hair.
‘The Young Family’ was first exhibited in
the Australian Pavilion in the Venice
Biennale in 2003 and is often exhibited in
art galleries. The work is open to the
general public however the main audience
would mainly be people interested in art
and have some level of art knowledge.
‘The Young Family’ allures people in
because of it very realistic appearance,
however when drawn closer the audience
notices it is a dream-like, obscure creature
that has been imagined by the artist and
begin to have feelings of disgust or pity
towards the creature.
Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist who
works across a range of mediums such as
drawing, photography, sculpture and
digital media.
Patricia Piccinini’s intention in the artwork
‘The Young Family’ is to express the
expectation we have of growing human
organs in other species, especially pigs.
The human like realness of the skin along
with the pig like representation of the
teats and ears symbolises the idea
scientists have on growing human organs
in other species such as pigs. Piccinini is
starting to question the bioethics we have
when it comes to science and technology.
The artwork begins to get the audience to
question a strange new world of artificial
or mutant beings derived from
experimental biotechnology
The audience, at first glance, could be
disturbed by the creature due to its
obscure appearance however when
looking at all the similarities the creature
has with humans and how life like it
appears an audience could start to feel
pity or empathy.
Piccinini was influenced by the world of
science and biotechnologies. She was
inspired by the idea of the ‘artificial’ world
merging with reality and her own personal
fantasy of what the future will become if
we continue to progress in biological
engineering.
The artwork is titled “The Young Family’ or
‘We are Family’, it was made in 2003 for
the Venice Biennale.
Piccinini is interested in the boundaries
between humans, other animals and
biologically engineered species; between
the real, the imagined and the
scientifically possible.
Patricia Piccinini was influenced by the
current research into biological
engineering and cloning that is being done
by scientists. Her artworks also contain a
dreamlike quality and have ties with
surrealism. The creature in ‘The Young
Family’ has certain similarities to the dead
creature in Salvador Dali’s ‘The persistence
of memory’.
‘The Young Family’ portrays Piccinini’s own
fantasy world of a type of hybrid that
crosses a human with the genetics of a
different species. Her work exhibits a
dream-like quality and what Piccinini’s
imagination believes to be the future of
the world of science.
PATRICIA PICCININI