Disembodiment

2013. Plate of metal (copper-iron alloy) on plywood panel with lower legs

60 cm x 60 cm x 3 cm (plate of metal) / 80 cm x 110 cm x 2.54 cm (plywood panel)

Unique edition

Modern scientific knowledge classifies sex by holding male and female as norms. We are all familiar with the gender

symbols ♂ and ♀. There is an academically acceptable theory of the origin of the symbols, which explains that ♂ and ♀

come from abbreviations in Greek astronomy. They were used as abbreviations for the names of Greek and Roman

gods; ♂ represents Ares (Greek god) and Mars (Roman god), and ♀ represents Aphrodite (Greek god) and Venus 

(Roman goddess).

In the 18th century, the great biologist Carl Linnaeus appropriated these planet symbols in reference to gender in biology.

I unexpectedly found that these symbols are also used to represent the chemical element in science. ♂ represents the

chemical element 'iron', and ♀ represents the chemical element 'copper'.

This work is an experimental sculpture. I aim to disembody the gender binary. I alloyed incongruous metals consisting of

iron and copper, to be formed as a metal plate. Here the plate is presented as an abstract sculpture.