Chalice made of human bone

This is a one of a kind handmade art piece by Dr. Jo Zayner. The piece consists of a Chalice made of human bone. The chalice consists of a human occipital bone along with a complete set of human left hand bones and human rib bones. The occipital bone is coated in 24k gold. The chalice contains human DNA plasmids for genetic engineering that express the CASP2, CASP3 and CASP8 cell death proteins. The hand is known to come from a woman, the rest of the bones were obtained without provenance.

This chalice was made for the Not Long for This World Art Show that took place for a single night on August 19th. This is the only piece available to the public from the show.

The show was an immersive experience set in 1963 after DNA discovery won the Nobel Prize in 1962. There was an apocalyptic event and I(Dr. Jo Zayner) was one of the survivors, the other, my lover. We were living alone together in a safe house surviving the apocalypse when she passed away. In deep pain and mourning I started to build devices using her organs that contributed to my survival, helped me keep going while living trapped alone in this space. Her heart beats powered a lamp. Her lungs created an air filtration gas mask. Her eye a camera to see the world through her view. Her brain allowed me to relive her memories. Her liver could be fermented for alcohol. Her ovaries and uterus to try and create offspring. Her bones for a chalice lined with gene therapies to end it all. And more.

Piece Title: Her Bones

Piece Description: A human left hand holds an occipital bone coated in 24k gold and plasmid DNA. Hand and occipital bones are supported by three human rib bones. The occipital bone is coated in DNA that expresses CASP2, CASP3 and CASP8 cell death proteins. The idea is that one would add liquid to the chalice which would solvate the DNA into the liquid along with some gold particles. The DNA bound to gold would then be able to penetrate cells express the cell death proteins and kill the cells and the human drinking from it. Kind of a modern chalice of Socrates. Though in reality it is unlikely the death will occur from drinking from the chalice it is not recommended.