Red MetaSocial Membrane Collage

Membranes, which are objects in quantum physics that can have any number of allowed dimensions. Some physicists have proposed that our own universe is a membrane and could in fact be two dimensional and only appear three dimensional. Each work represents a universe, one of an infinite number of universes making up a multiverse. Combining the idea of membranes and animism the concept of animate membranes is created and the multiverse becomes an ecosystem inhabited by living, reproducing and dying membranes. Each work is a representation of a membrane in a particular stage of its biological life cycle; from embryonic to adult, reproducing, dying and decomposing. Several religions echo this animistic cosmology; the Ensō, a Zen symbol depicting the universe, takes on new meaning as the representation of living and dying adult membranes. The Hindu concept of Indra’s Net, which is used to describe the interconnectedness of universes - Hinduism created the multiverse long before quantum mechanics did - is reflected by the mesh pattern in the works. The pattern can also be seen as scales which evokes the Ouroboros, a snake biting its own tail, an ancient Egyptian symbol of a cyclic universe. Linear universes, such as our own, can be seen as fragments of dead membranes; many ancient religions state that our reality was created by the dead body of an ancient god