A recording of our first Lab Coat Lunch with Matt Durran is now available below and on our Vimeo channel.
Hosted by the Visual and Material Lab, this session explored how visual and material practices can support innovation in healthcare through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Image credit on video slide: Matt Durran’s bespoke glass moulds for cancer patients at the Royal Free Hospital.
Event Description
The new Lab Coat Lunches online series highlights diverse and often hidden methods and approaches from clinical, academic and community practice. In the first event of the series, Matt Durran discussed his collaboration with the Royal Free Hospital in London, where modern technologies are combined with traditional craft techniques.
This collaboration with a team of clinicians, cell biologists, material scientists, and engineers used Matt’s expertise in the medium of glass to improve the tissue engineering process for cancer patients requiring human tissue transplants. His role was to create glass moulds that would act as support cast to grow tissue prior to its use in the body, primarily for noses, ears and even voice boxes.
This project demonstrates the transformative potential of bringing artistic, scientific and clinical practices together, and shows how a shared language can develop across disciplines and industries.
About Matt
Matt Durran is an artist, curator and educator with extensive experience in international collaborations and interdisciplinary projects. Beginning in the post-Cold War period with symposia and exhibitions across Central and Eastern Europe, his practice has since expanded globally, creating opportunities for artists and scientists to work together on contemporary challenges including sustainability, upcycling and medical innovation.
Read more about the Matt’s project:
Matt Durran – The Artist Pioneering Nose Reconstruction Surgery – Havas Lynx.
On behalf of the Visual and Material Lab, we thank everyone for their contribution to this event. We look forward to seeing you at future Lab Coat Lunches in the series.
