Ori Orisun Merhav

Description

Through metabolic alchemy, the tree’s sugars are transformed into polymer in the encounter between insect and host tree. What once flowed as liquid through the veins of the tree becomes a resinous secretion, carefully architected by Kerria lacca insects into a protective cocoon — a collective womb where new offspring are nurtured before departing in search of a new host. When they leave, the cocoon remains. It holds and commemorates the female insects: the collective womb becomes a collective urn, preserving their bodies in resin, still clinging to the tree — a material memory of life. This inquiry gave rise to an evolving body of research, Insects Craftology, which observes insect bodies as nature’s own extruders. By adapting Ginger Additive Technology into our custom “insect printer,” Merhav began to reimagine how technological systems can echo biological intelligence. Following the acquisition by the Centre Pompidou, Merhav spent three months developing a coded language by scanning textures from insect cocoons and translating them into algorithms that imitate their architectural logic and patterns of growth. Morphocatalysis is our interpretation of the insect’s womb — extruded through our custom “insect printer,” using a code derived directly from the cocoon itself. This rigorous research process is shaped by trial and error, marked by continuous failures and discoveries. The belly of the piece reveals a mosaic-like section, composed of fragments of failed experiments and misprints. These remnants are not discarded, but carefully assembled into a meticulous patchwork — a way of commemorating the process and embedding its memory into the object. Morphocatalysis is imagined as an artifact discovered during archaeological excavations along the Silk Road. Its origin appears uncertain, as if displaced in time — perhaps from a future where humans fabricate nature, or from a distant past in which insects and humans co-created. This work is part of an edition of 26 sculptural vessels, through which this language and narrative will continue to unfold.