In an alluring blend of art and science, Michael Joo’s 1999 sculpture Image (Symmetry) presents a fantastical re-envisaging of nature to intriguing ends. This majestic work comes from a series titled ‘Improved Racks,’ in which the artist manipulates and enlarges real pairs of antlers, cutting them into segments before welding them together with stainless steel to produce ‘improved’ hybrid creations. Simultaneously enhanced and superfluous, they seem befitting of an ever-advancing technological age. Described as ‘an artist who delights and disturbs in equal measure,’ Joo frequently explores the effects of human omnipotence over the natural world in his thought-provoking oeuvre, by imposing on it the artist’s will (‘The Delightfully Disturbing Conceptual Art of Michael Joo’, Brilliant Ideas, Episode 3, August 2015). Where naturally occurring organic forms are asymmetrical, Joo combines processes of deconstruction and reconstruction in his sculptural work to address humankind’s unquenchable curiosity and desire to ‘improve on perfection’ (M. Joo, quoted in ‘The Delightfully Disturbing Conceptual Art of Michael Joo’, Brilliant Ideas, Episode 3, August 2015). An American artist of Korean descent, Joo was born to scientist parents, and a profound scientific influence is apparent in his conceptual and experimental work. Encapsulated in sculptures such as Image (Symmetry), Joo’s cross-disciplinary practice engages with ontology, epistemology and entropy to enthralling and poignant effects.