20 august @Slum

AIN’T NO SUNSHINE
An exhibition by Mario Dzurila and Snax in the dark room of SLUM @ Ficken 3000, Berlin.

What if every sperm supposedly “wasted” in a basement dark room actually had the potential to fertilize and produce human life? Mario Dzurila and Snax would like to introduce you to overlooked offspring, the Children Of The Dark Room, where there Ain’t No Sunshine.
In the morning hours, the floor of a typical dark room can almost amount to what science calls “primordial soup.” Special conditions, such as high humidity, low temperature and lack of light fuse with the chemicals used in lubricants and amyl nitrate, thus prolonging a sperm’s life span from several minutes to several days. The pairing and matching of said sperm results in a cell called the zygote, which replicates half the DNA of each of two or more fathers.
After the birth, children remain in the dark room their entire life. Adaptation to their surroundings comes in a myriad of forms. Retinas expand to catch any small amount of light. In other instances, children emit their own light with bioluminescence - disguising their silhouette. They stay hidden in their underground dark dens through busy barroom hours, never allowing their innocence to disturb wandering patrons and future parents. Socializing only with each other, they are timid and panic easily. Their playground is video and their laughter is digitized.

Mario Dzurila and Snax shed light on these forgotten souls and allow the world to witness this phenomenon for the first time. At last, the children will rule the roost downstairs and the visitors are the ones who will have to be their unseen guests.