This interdisciplinary project proposes a series of lab workshops that will teach interested participants how a common biotechnological diagnostic testing method called ELISA (Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay) is used to test for HIV. Using simple scientific diagnostic protocols and tools, participants will be invited to perform a series of simulated tests for HIV. This testing procedure generates a range of colours as results on a test strip of paper. The difference of colour seen in context of all the test results will reveal slight variations, implicitly challenging a clear cut diagnosis of positive or negative. Participant will be invited to participate in the lab event and a discussion regarding these results. This workshop aims to reveal complexities involved in making a diagnosis through the ELISA methods - including ambiguity, error, and aesthetic subjectivity. The test strips generated in the lab workshops will be collected as graphic material for a new public art poster project.

The workshop stems from my experience as an artist working in the science laboratory during a residency at SymbioticA, the art and science collaborative research laboratory. During my residency it became very clear to me that while the scientific method implies fixed notions of truth measured by a provable hypothesis, such truths are often open to subjective and speculative interpretation. When creating experiments and tests in research science there is more flexibility and speculation involved than one might think. In many cases measurements can deviate from protocols, and experimental substances are exchanged for substitutes. This workshop is intended to introduce and demystify the process of scientific/medical diagnosis to a public of all ages, with or without a scientific background.