1990-1993
steel, stainless steel, plastic, electrical and pneumatic components, brass, aluminum
7’ x 3’ x 3’

“In March 1985 a young New York City couple faced a tragic dilemma. They were newlyweds and had not yet started a family. But the husband had cancer and continued chemotherapy would make it difficult for him to father a child. The couple decided to store some of his sperm in a Manhattan sperm bank. After a year the wife decided she wanted to have a baby as soon as possible, and so she was artificially inseminated..........She gave birth to a daughter in December 1986....DNA TESTS ON THE CHILD AND ON THE HUBAND’S REMAINING DEPOSITS AT THE SPERM BANK,.......HAVE CONFIRMED THERE IS NO GENETIC LINK BETWEEN THE TWO.” (Quote taken from Newsweek March 19, 1990)

“The Seed addresses this disturbing problem of misplaced sperm and embryos by allowing people to do their cryogenic banking at home away from the humiliating laboratory environment and inevitable confusion of commercial cryogenic sperm banks. Without specific regulations sperm banks set their own guidelines that can lead to tragedy.

Before purchasing “The Seed” the buyer must be aware of three features that differentiate this domestic cryogenic device from other cryogenic systems:

1) The sculptural integrity and fine craftsmanship designed into “The Seed” immediately distances this device from mere laboratory machines and defines a societal issue as only a work of art can accomplish.

2)The ability of this sculpture/device to defend itself against tampering through fool proof optical motion detectors and pneumatic powered protective systems will give the user a secure feeling when the user is away from home.

3) The specimen containment vessel doubles as a fine ornamental neckpiece that can be worn for short periods of time in a frozen state for creative ceremonial applications.

“The Seed” is hand fabricated from non-corrosive stainless steel and low oxidizing alloys of brass and aluminum. The liquid nitrogen vessel is double walled evacuated glass and the system comes complete with backup supplies of liquid nitrogen and pressurized inert gas. No extensive training is necessary to effectively operate this device.