PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER art picks

February 3-10, 2005

Alien Life Forms

by Lou Perseghin

aart

"I'm the first to admit it's a peculiar story," says GERM Books and Gallery owner Jennifer Bates, "but that's why I decided to do the exhibit."

Bates weaves a tale wrapped in mystery wrapped in a rather dubious enigma when she talks about the upcoming show "Parasite Rex: Alien Masters, Human Hosts"

According to Bates, she encountered a man going by the name of Mr. Lamia while the two were working to help the Florida highway patrol clean up from the tornadoes during the summer of 1989. He related to her an intriguing story. He supposedly worked for a scientist in Vienna who was attempting to merge an alien parasite master from the planet Aldebaran with a human host.

Um, right.

So, anyway, this mad scientist had several glass models of the experimental aliens in the lab, along with his equipment. Lamia, who was hired to sweep bits of glass off the laboratory floor, snuck in one night to steal some photographs of the eerily stoic glass facsimiles and then fled, ultimately ending up in Miami.

"The story is essentially true, as I was told; I'm not sure about the credibility, I can't verify it," says Bates. "I was certainly intrigued by [Lamia]; he was an entity unto himself. I never questioned the story. Those things are obviously meant to be contained in someone or something. By very definition, whatever they are is alien."

Bates says she feels compelled to tell the story through these photographs, entrusted to her by the mysterious Lamia almost 16 years ago. The exhibit will display about 30 photographs of the glass parasites, which appear to be big, wormlike creatures with odd heads and antennae protrusions. "The glass models are impossibly intricate," says Bates.

"I have some other stuff he gave me, but I don't know if I'm going to exhibit it or not, it's too weird," says Bates. "I don't know if the public is ready."