18/5/3

A cake-shaped object, output by a 3D printer, is divided into 18 slices and placed on a cake stand. 18 is the number of eggs that were fertilized. Only five reached the blastocyst stage and were given physical form through 3D printing. Three contain embedded LEDs that emit light, indicating passage of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT-A). Two remain dark. The other thirteen are absent from the plate.

Actual ultrasound photographs taken during IVF treatment are arranged around the piece. An Arduino controls the on/off state of the LEDs, reproducing the pass/fail verdict of genetic testing as the presence or absence of light.

Cake is what we make for birthdays, for the moment life is welcomed. In this work, cake becomes the vessel that holds what was never welcomed. The numbers are not statistics. They are the count of what was once alive inside the body. This work neither argues for nor against genetic testing. It makes the selection visible.