Morphogenesis (deriving from the Greek morphê) is a biological term used to explain the genesis of cells and cellular differentiation. It describes the process that causes an organism to develop its shape. Acting as a metaphor for artistic and curatorial production, the exhibition propagates a process of morphogenetic character. It alludes to the invisible influences that develop the shapes of forms. This genesis of form is seen as an ‘open ended becoming’ that is both nonlinear and dynamic. The works in the exhibition enter a playing field with no hierarchical divisions–they and the viewer exist as equal occupant bodies. Existing as a simulation of a body without organs, the result is a morphogenesis of a distinct experiential essence.

Including sound, video and sculpture–the works in Beginning the Shape create a singular installation. These three disciplines lend themselves to a shifting of experience and a total investment in presence. All of the works reference a method of placing the self, emphasizing perception to create a multiplicity through their unification.

Included is a video by Mel Paget that calls to being an evolution of renderings and shifting alterations through a number of softwares. Maya Beaudry’s installation shares with the viewer a constant recycling of shape through repetitive gesture, taking form again and again in tandem with the surrounding exhibition. Scott Kemp’s austere constructions shift space and place through clean-lined reappropriation, derived from the shapes found in both Paget and Beaudry’s work. Kristen Abdai’s sound piece creates a symphonic matrix with the surrounding installation, constructing and enhancing spatial awareness through its subtle presence. The echoing of the sound installation through different areas of the gallery exalts the nuances of the experience morphogenetically formed in its wake. It smoothes the fractured object that is the exhibition, as morphogenesis creates an undercurrent through the show with its culmination of immanent assemblage.