GLASS, CORN, AND GENETIC MODIFICATION
BY MICHAEL “MICK” MEILAHN
Primordial Shift is an installation dealing with the implications of the genetic modification of corn.
In the 20th Century, a paradigm shift occurred in genetics, when scientists discovered how to unravel genetic code; the genetic code itself, DNA; and the commodification of GMOs and the positive and negative implications for consumers.
“ An ear of corn is the point of convergence for my dual careers in farming and art. Corn is not a typical subject in art. But for me, the lines, rows, numbers, higher prices, lower prices, color spectrums, mapping, information technology, air masses, and species have all combined to have unwittingly become a catalyst.”—MICK MEILAHN
MICK MEILAHN
As an undergraduate, Meilahn spent a quarter abroad working with glass legend, Erwin Eisch in Frauenau, Germany. After graduation, he spent a year as a Peace Corps volunteer in Bolivia, after which he earned a Master's degree in glass and sculpture under Joel Philip Myers at Illinois State University, Normal.
Ultimately, his roots drew him back home to his family’s farm in east central Wisconsin where he built a hot glass studio and operated the farm with his family. In time, Mick Meilahn’s passion for art and farming became one-in-the-same as a form of creative expression. In recent years, his work has centered on corn as an icon, and all that it represents in culture, food, and science.
ARTIST • Michael “Mick” Meilahn
EXHIBIT • David J. Wagner, Ph.D., Curator/Tour Director. David J. Wagner, L.L.C.
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