The artwork GFP: A Cabinet for Real and Imagined Futures Instance #2 critiques the gap between the realities of genetic engineering and the often exaggerated perceptions of it in science fiction and speculative media representations. In the upper section, a Perspex dome contains a Petri dish with GFP-transformed E. coli bacteria preserved in resin. This bacteria, modified to express the GFP gene from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria, emits a green glow under UV light—a striking yet scientifically precise demonstration of genetic modification.

In contrast, the lower section of the cabinet embodies common fears and fantastical notions about genetic engineering, displaying a faux mutant chicken in a surreal landscape of uncanny and wondrous elements. This section reflects the popular belief that genetic engineering could result in monstrous, visibly altered creatures, while emphasising that many current genetic modifications operate at a molecular or microscopic level, often invisible to the naked eye.