Sacrifice, Prescription, and Implantation

2022

Mixed-media—glycerine, chitosan powder, sodium alginate, pine resin, calcium carbonate powder, pancreatin, collagen protein powder, stainless steel, and electrical device 

Dimension variable 

 

The struggle against disease is an endless one. To overcome illness, humanity has been continuously developing the tools in medicine since primaeval empirical healing, up till modern experimental medicine of modern times.

 

Stone Age totems record the worship of animals, the slaughter of 'sacrificial animals' of the time, and the offering of sacrifices to the fickle gods in exchange for their blessing and the mitigation of calamity. Classical ethical beliefs prioritise the greatest happiness for humanity, so it was common to offer what were then considered to be high material pleasures in exchange for the faith of the people in power and the blessing of natural forces. As the concept of medicine was gradually established, various organs of animals were used externally and internally, using their notion of medicinal properties to expel demons or to strengthen themselves. In the early days, those who practised healing were shamans, and medicine was applied as a form of sorcery, treating the body and mind with their likeness. Modern medicine has inherited logical reasoning, coupled with repeated experimentation and testing, to further the relationship among humans, animals, and medicine. Scientists look at the biological similarities between animals and humans and extract cells, hormones, or genetic materials from animals to treat patients. People have taken the amino acid sequence of the insulin molecules from pigs and genetically modified them to cure diabetes. In fact, what people have imagined for animal application is far more than that in medicine. As early as 1962, the medical world had begun studying xenotransplantation across different species, transplanting live non-human animal cells, organisations, or organs to the human body. In 2022, the University of Maryland Medical Centre transplanted a genetically modified heart of a pig onto a patient, resulting in the longest survival for a xenograft recipient. Unfortunately, the patient finally died two months later; and not to forget, the life of the host of the pig's heart was lost at the same time. In addition, the heart of the pig was kept aseptically, observed and transported from the donor pig, to the moment it was removed from the heart on the operating table.

 

Humans and animals have together experienced theology, metaphysics, and practical examination as medical history progresses. Time has proven the fluid shifts of ethics, class, and function between humans and other species. From sacrifice to medicine and xenotransplantation, it is as if we have merged the two into one. Witchcraft and science present humans with a feasible system of measurement, but with no guidance on how to use the power of decision. A dualistic society teaches the belief in the supremacy of species, habitually colonising other species and nature, while human health is placed on the moral high ground. However, as the tools for environmental alteration continue to advance, will these other species remain only functional, and will ecological equality be reduced to a slogan for a future technological religion?

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犧牲、藥方與植入

2022

混合媒介 —— 甘油、殼聚糖粉、海藻酸鈉、松樹樹脂、碳酸鈣粉、胰酶、膠原蛋白粉、不銹鋼與電子配件

尺寸可變

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人類與疾病搏鬥是無盡的課題，而為了克服疾病，人們從原始年代的經驗治療至現代的實驗醫學不斷研發醫學工具。

 

石器時代的圖騰記載人類曾崇拜動物，人們以宰殺當時的「犧牲」——奉獻給神靈的活體祭祀，取悅不可掌握的神靈，從而獲得庇佑及減輕災難所帶來的罪罰。古典效益主張創造人類群體的最大快樂，因此為了獲得民眾對當權者的信奉和自然力量的庇佑，獻出當時被視為高級物質享受的他類物種是普及的。隨着藥物概念逐漸建立，人們外敷內服動物各種器官，以其藥效形象驅除魔鬼或增強自身力量。早期施行療病的人是驅邪的巫師，藥物曾經作為一種巫術，以同類相治的方向治理身體與心靈。現代醫學傳承邏輯思維，再加上重覆實驗與考證，再推進人類、動物與醫學的關係。科學家從觀察動物與人體的生物相近性，抽取動物的細胞、荷爾蒙或基因替患者治病。人們從豬隻抽取胰島素分子的胺基酸序列，加以修改基因，令糖尿病人得到醫治。其實人們對如何利用動物的想像遠遠多於藥物用途。早於1962年，醫學界已努力研發跨物種的異種移植，將非人類動物的活體細胞、組織或器官移植至人體。2022年，美國馬里蘭大學醫學院曾將基因改造的豬心臟移植到病人身上，手術創下異種移植最長的存活時間，可惜病人最後在兩個月後死去；而失去的生命還有豬心臟的宿主，它從被無菌飼養、觀察，至手術台上被摘去心臟一刻同樣處於被動。

 

人們與動物在醫學歷史的推演下共同經歷宗教神學、形而上學及實證階段，時間印證人類與他類物種之間道德、階級與功能上具流動性的變異，從犧牲獻祭、入藥至異體移植，我們像是由二元融為一體。巫術與科學為人類展示可行的量度制度，卻沒有附上如何使用決定權的指引。二元社會教育人們物種至上的信仰，習慣將他類物種與自然作為殖民的對象，人類健康被視為倫理的高地。但當人類改變環境的工具不斷進步時，這些他類物種又是否只能停留在功能為先的位置？生態平等是否淪為未來科技宗教的口號？

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