Scientific inquiry has long relied on artists to draw evidence or produce empirical knowledge. Today, it is more commonly accepted that truth is not found but is made; and knowledge is situated within a web of many influences, including the cultural. When an early 20th century collection of microscopic glass plate negatives from the State Silk Museum in Tbilisi (formerly known as the Caucasian Sericulture Station) was digitized in 2022, the images exposed the many ways that the Soviet Empire employed artists to extend itself into the molecular. A photography studio was set up in the attic of the science center so that artists could document the smallest living specimen that enabled the silk industry to thrive. Forty-seven of these photographs, which detail the lifecycle of the Bombyx mori (commonly known as the silk moth), are reproduced here and contextualized by essays and poetic interventions.

This publication reflects the cross-cultural collaborations between Mishkin Gallery at the City University of New York and the State Silk Museum in Tbilisi, and demonstrates that science and art, two seemingly disparate disciplines, are not that different in the end.

Edited and with texts by:

Alaina Claire Feldman, Director and Curator, Mishkin Gallery.

Mariam Shergelashvili, Exhibition Curator, State Silk Museum.

Designer:

Geoff Kaplan/General Working Group


The publication is available for purchase at the museum shop.