Immortality for Two

Immortality for two
Developed in colleboration with Luís Graça (UNICEL Group, Intituto de Medicina Molecular).

In Immortality for two the author and her collaborator (her partner) will immortalize each other immune cells. This will be achieved by introducing cancer-inducing genes in the cells with a viral vector. The immortal cells, although derived from two people in love, as they derive from immune cells involved in the body defense cannot interact or they will be mutually rejected. Thus, immortality comes at a price – and that price is perpetual isolation. The live cells will be exhibited in the absence of any visible lab equipment, and the tension created by their isolation will be emphasized through two live projections of the growing cells that partially overlap. Only in the virtual space of their projection the immortal cells can interact.