As a part of the project, the EAF has commissioned texts from over 20 national and international writers, published here together with images from artists working in the field. Art in the Biotech Era is a comprehensive compilation of theories and practices surrounding issues of art and biotechnology.

Published by the Experimental Art Foundation
February, 2008ISBN 0-949836-52-4210mm x 210mm234 pp/36pp colour images

Contributors: Introduction by editor Melentie Pandilovski

Writers & Artists: Miguel Amado, Roy Ascott, André Brodyk, Stuart Bunt, Heath Bunting, Gary Cass, Boo Chapple, Melinda Cooper, Critical Art Ensemble, Gina Czarnecki, Kirsty Darlaston, Joe Davis, George Gessert, FOAM (Maja Kuzmanovic & Nik Gaffney), Eduardo Kac, Diane Ludin, Marta de Menezes, Mez, Anna Munster, Michalis Pichler, Liljana Simjanovska, Niki Sperou, Mike Stubbs, Eugene Thacker, Zoran Todorovic, Polona Tratnik, Raewyn Turner, Recombinant I-Ching Collective, Tissue Art & Culture (Oron Catts, & Ionat Zurr), Tanja Visosevic, Morag Wightman, Adam Zaretsky.

For more information: http://www.eaf.asn.au/aitbe_about.html

The Art Exhibit Subcommittee of the 2008 GE3LS International Symposium welcomes submissions of original digital works of art that address the ethical, legal, and social themes related to the human genome, biology in the 21st century, or genetics in society. For the purposes of this contest digital art is defined as art that is created in a digital form. It can be drawn using a computer, created from a source such as a digital photograph, or be entirely computer generated. We will not accept digitized images of oil, acrylic or mixed media paintings.

There are no fees or any charges to enter the contest. The Subcommittee will award a:
1st prize of $1,000 (Cdn.),
2nd prize of $500.00 (Cdn.)
3rd prize of $250.00 (Cdn.)

The Genome Canada Select Prize will go to a Canadian entrant selected by the judging panel. This prize will be a $500.00 gift certificate to a camera store of the prize winner?s choice nearest to their residence. The Select Prize winner will also have their entry used in promotion for the 2009 GE3LS International Symposium. All prizes must be accepted as awarded.

Submissions will be initially judged online by the general public. The final winners will be chosen from the top 12 based on voting numbers, by a judging committee which will consider the merit of the art and its thematic merit. The Genome Canada Select Prize will be at the sole discretion of the judging panel.

I mention all of these events not just as an excuse for my slow response, but also to give you all a sense of my current framework / mindset and to contextualize something that I have witnessed in the U.S. Over time, there have been more restrictions put into place, an erosion of freedoms, and citizens in this country take fewer risks particularly apt when thinking about new art practices such as “bioart”. Akos just mentioned issues of fear and doubt around exhibition of bioart and I think that this is real here, because it is also being conflated with things such as “bioterrorism” and “biowarfare” which of course Steve Kurtz and CAE speak to so well. I know many exhibiting venues that have had a difficult time raising funding for this area. So I think we are living in a particular moment of caution that makes this kind of practice even more difficult to show.

I am currently working with some colleagues, Rich Pell and Daniela Kostova, on a project we call the Bioart Initiative at my university. The name came about because of the collaboration between the Arts Dept and the Biotech Center so it was used as a simple identification of the collaborating parties. (I would love to see other terms used as I, too, am frustrated with this too broad nomenclature.) This is a multi-pronged project that has been funded for 15 months to bring in speakers, have exhibitions and sponsor residencies of artists working in the laboratory. The goals are to encourage more exchange between artists and the scientists who work in the building, the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS).

One of the recent projects was “Sentimental Objects In Attempt to befriend a Virus” by Caitlin Berrigan. Berrigan occupied the lobby area at CBIS with her geodesic domes resembling the hepatitis C virus, and held a series of “tea parties” offering dandelion tea and viral shaped chocolates to discuss the basis for the work. Berrigan has Hep C and uses this work to explore her relationship to the virus, build public awareness about transmission and more. One sculptural object almost closed the show down: along with the geodesic viral domes on exhibit were three potted dandelions. Berrigan claimed that she had fed her own blood to the dandelions and had a poster to this effect on the wall. This fact was picked up by the biosafety people on campus, and they freaked. Exposed blood, particularly infected blood was not allowed in the lobby of the building and was a grave bio-hazard. Besides the fact that this artist did not in fact feed the plants her blood, this potential risk was potentially enough to have the entire program shut down.

After we calmed them down, we did get to have some valuable discussions about the transmission potential - or not - for four day old blood, and the actual realities about Hep C transmission. http://www.metroland.net/back_issues/vol30_no45/art.html

And while I do not consider myself an expert in bioart exhibition, I am concerned with curation and exhibition and issues such as the caretaking needs of live things in the gallery or museum. When I exhibited “Embracing Animal“, a 10 month exhibition with live transgenic rats, I was amazed with the response of the museum staff. They not only gave public tours and lecture about the work, but the night-watchman also adopted the rats and would tend to them and play with them all night. They become the “keepers” and observers of these small lives, a role very different from their usual curatorial duties. They had to not only feed, water, change litter, but also watch and smell the rats to make sure they didn’t get ill; oversee the public and make sure they weren’t harassing the rats; and also make time to play with the rats. This was a complete reversal of their usual schedule. And while I am not advocating turning galleries / museums into zoos, this is a shift in the approach to exhibition that involves a different kind of different attention and care. I think we need some of these encounters in these spaces to broaden how we see ourselves to science / research subjects and what was once “nature”.

I will sign off now and add more later, thanks, Kathy High

Posted on Synapse Discussion List

Browsing the Synapse Database — which is searchable by “Individuals”, “Interests”, “Projects / Events / Publications,” “Organizations” and “Gallery” — I came across Nigel Helyer’s Sonic Landscapes R + D project:

From June 1999 until September 2001, Helyer worked as an Artist in Residence at Lake Technology in Sydney, developing the Sonic Landscapes Virtual Audio Reality system … The salient feature of the Sonic Landscapes project is the juxtaposition of a fictive (but very convincing) 3D immersive sound-scape, accurately positioned by cartographic software, upon a physical terrain. The effect is somewhat akin to Murray Schafer’s concept of ‘Schitzophonia’, where, by the simple act of recording, sound is split from its original physical context and projected into another context.

However within a Sonic Landscapes experience we are not simply dealing with the disembodied voices of popular music reproduced and re-contextualised via a stereo-sytem! Here we are engaging with a seemingly live sonic organism that is responsive to our presence, our orientation and the traces of our wanderings, and which appears un-cannily embedded in the site itself.

The prototype Sonic Landscapes Unit is capable of operating with a 2cm positional accuracy when employing differential GPS (Global Satellite Positioning) and with a one degree accuracy for rotational head orientation, which, when combined with Lake’’s headphones delivered virtual speaker array, provides a highly realistic immersive audio environment. Tracking technology for the Sonic Landscapes project has been provided throughout by the SNAP Lab of the University of New South Wales under the guidance of Professor Chris Rizos. Future collaborative projects are currently underway between the Artist and UNSW c.f. “Audio Nomad”.The choice of a prototype test site for the project was St Stephens graveyard in Newtown; one of Sydney’s oldest burial grounds, which provided an ideal pedestrian environment, rich in historical material and interesting physical structures.

Bio art manipulates the processes of life; in its most radical form, it invents or transforms living organisms. It is not representational; bio art is in vivo. (A celebrated example is Eduardo Kac’s own GFP Bunny, centered on “Alba,” the transgenic fluorescent green rabbit.) The creations of bio art become a part of evolution and, provided they are capable of reproduction, can last as long as life exists on earth. Thus, bio art raises unprecedented questions about the future of life, evolution, society, and art.

The contributors to Signs of Life articulate the critical theory of bio art and document its fundamental works. The writers–who include such prominent scholars as Barbara Stafford, Eugene Thacker, and Dorothy Nelkin–consider the culture and aesthetics of biotechnology, the ethical and philosophical aspects of bio art, and biology in art history. The section devoted to artworks and artists includes George Gessert’s Why I Breed Plants, Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr’s Semi-Living Art, Marc Quinn’s Genomic Portrait, and Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey’s Chlorophyll.

Eduardo Kac is an internationally renowned artist who has received critical acclaim for net and bio works including Genesis, GFP Bunny, and Move 36. His work has been widely exhibited and is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro, among others.

in situ – art | body | medicine

in situ – art | body | medicine: The 10th Annual Subtle Technologies Festival 2007, Toronto, Canada :: May 24-27, 2007: Subtle Technologies Symposium - Register Early for discounted Festival Passes!

Subtle Technologies is a unique, multidisciplinary festival that explores the complex and subtle relationships between art and science. For the 10th Annual Festival, Subtle Technologies presents practitioners of arts, sciences and medicines, and those who study their context, historians, ethicists, and other critical thinkers to contemplate how these disciplines can work together and reshape perspectives on the body.

As scientific and technological breakthroughs prominently occupy our culture, we ask where the boundaries are. We investigate how we relate bodies in situ: as parts, as a whole, as systems; how we identify, map, modify, protect, violate, and heal.
The programming juxtaposes cutting-edge artistic projects and scientific exploration.

Events include:

BioArt Online Discussion co-presented with Year Zero One.

SymbioticA Tissue Engineering Workshop for Artists co-presented with Year Zero One.

Panel Discussion on the biological as a medium in art and science: Art, Science, and the Emotional Response co-presented with MicrobeWorld and Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD).

Symposium featuring 26 speakers.

Evening of Performance featuring dance, robotics, butoh.

Exhibitions at InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, Ontario Science Centre, Innis Town Hall Neighbourhood + Ayurveda on Queen Street West.

For more information, please visit our website

Partners: InterAccess Electronic Media Arts Centre, Year Zero One, SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, Ontario College of Art & Design, Ontario Science Centre, MicrobeWorld, University of Toronto Institute for Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, Design Exchange, University of Toronto Health Care, Technology, and Place.

Supporters: Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Australian Network for Art & Technology.

SymbioticA Tissue Engineering Workshop for Artists

SymbioticA Tissue Engineering Workshop for Artists, part of the 2007 Subtle Technologies Festival - in situ – art | body | medicine :: May 18, 19, 20, 2007 :: Toronto, Canada.

The increasing recognition of technological intervention and integration in medicine and the body has introduced tissue culture (TC) and tissue engineering (TE) as new possibilities for artistic engagement. Bioart, an emerging art form that uses the biological as its medium, explores the vast possibilities of biotechnology. The use of TE for non medical ends is also been explored in areas such as food production (in-vitro meat), leather replacement, locomotion, research models, and art.

Biomedical research has a major influence on perceptions of body, self and medical thinking. TE enables researchers to grow three dimensional living tissue constructs of varying sizes, shapes and tissue types. These constructs continue living and growing in-vitro or as a “new kind of body”.
This two and a half day intensive workshop will introduce artists and other interested people (including architects, designers, ethicists, policy makers) to basic principles of animal TC and TE, as well as to its history and the different artistic projects working with TC and TE. No prior experience necessary.

The workshop was developed by Oron Catts, Ionat Zurr and Dr Stuart Hodgetts and is conducted by artist/researcher/curator Oron Catts, the Artistic Director of SymbioticA (University of Western Australia).

SymbioticA is an artistic laboratory dedicated to the research, learning and critique of life sciences. SymbioticA is the first research laboratory of its kind, in that it enables artists to engage in wet biology practices in a biological science department. Catts has eleven years of experience researching tissue technologies as an artistic medium through the Tissue Culture and Art Project (TC&A) that he founded in 1996.

Tissue engineering is the use of a combination of cells, engineering and materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physio-chemical factors to improve or replace biological functions. While most definitions of tissue engineering cover a broad range of applications, in practice the term is closely associated with applications that repair or replace portions of or whole tissues.

Dates and Times:

May 18, Friday, 1pm~5pm
May 19, Saturday, 10am~5pm
May 20, Sunday, 10am~5pm

Location: University of Toronto

There are approximately 25 positions available for this workshop, including up to 5 fully funded scholarships.

More information and application procedures are detailed on the website.

Subtle Technologies Festival includes Performances, Exhibitions, Panel Discussions, Symposium, and Community-based Artwork in addition to this Workshop. Subtle Technologies is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council, and the Australian Network for Art and Technology.

IN SITU: Art, Body and Medicine

Subtle Technologies 10th Annual Festival: Art, Body and Medicine :: 10 years of blurring the boundaries between science and art :: May 24 - 27 :: Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, Canada.

To celebrate its 10th Annual Festival, Subtle Technologies presents practitioners of arts, sciences and medicines, and those who study their context to contemplate how these disciplines can work together and reshape perspectives on the body. As scientific and technological breakthroughs prominently occupy our culture, we ask where the boundaries are. We investigate how we relate bodies in situ: as parts, as a whole, as systems; how we identify, map, modify, protect, violate, and heal.
Festival includes:

- Exhibitions at Ontario Science Centre and InterAccess Media Arts Centre
- Tissue Engineering Workshop for artists
- Performances ranging from butoh to dancing with robots
- ‘Art, Science and the Emotional Response’: An evening of discussion with bioartists and microbiologists
- Symposia featuring over 30 speakers on Art, Body and Medicine

More details to follow.

Subtle Technologies is a multidisciplinary Festival exploring complex and subtle relationships between art and science. The annual international event combines symposia, exhibitions, workshops and performances that juxtapose cutting-edge artistic projects and scientific exploration.

A Project by CAPSULA

DAYS OF BIOART :: Centre d’Art Santa Monica, Barcelona :: Opening: 16th March, 8:00pm.

Days of Bioart is an ongoing project that intends to create a space of debate and exhibition dedicated to biological and living art that reflects the increasing interest around life sciences and the influence that they are having in culture and society. Created and coordinated by CAPSULA, Days of Bioart began in 2006 as a symposium and SymbioticA Tissue Engineering and Art Workshop.

This edition will reproduce in an exhibition space projects of artists and collectives that explore different formats in search of arising awareness on the techniques and discourses behind the new biotechnologies. It will analyse the performance potential and the laborious development of actions built around the domestication of concepts such as body architecture, semi-living, contestational biology or bioporn.
The projects and texts on show are by Critical Art Ensemble, subRosa, Guy Ben-Ary and Tanya Visosevic, Bioteknica, Stelarc and Nina Sellars, Kira O’Reilly, Marta de Menezes, Brandon Ballangee, Laura Cinti, Elio Caccavale, George Gessert, Adam Zaretsky, Julia Reodica, Jens Hauser and Dmitry Bulatov.

On the 16th of March at 1:30 pm the ‘CD Days of Bioart 06′ that documents the first edition that took place in February 2006 will be released. www.capsula.org.es/diasdebioarte

On the 7th of June the artist Adam Zaretsky will do a VIVOARTS LECTURE where he will be questioning with the public the uptake of certain techniques in modern molecular biology and the social and ethical implications they involve, including irreverent and demythologising experiences using methods such as Gooey Flesh Codex, Pure Germ Tech, Biotech Hobbyist and Body Mix, among others. Adam Zaretsky is a bioartist and lecturer. His projects can be found at http://emutagen.com This event will take place on 7 June at 8.00 pm at the Santa Monica Art Centre.

For further information: info[at]capsula.org.es

http://www.capsula.org.es/diasdebioarte/
http://www.centredartsantamonica.net/

International Conference

From Land Art to Bioart- International Conference :: will interrogate issues of Programming land and urbanism, Ecology and techno-art :: Saturday 20 January - 2007 - 9.00- 17:30 :: Modern Art gallery in Torino (Conference Room) :: info[at]parcoartevivente.it

“From Land Art to Bioart” (Curator Ivana Mulatero ) with Nicolas Bourriaud, Nils Udo, Jens Hauser, Piero Gilardi, Franco Torriani, Lorenzo Taiuti, Marta De Menezes, Pier Luigi Capucci, Louis Bec, Jean Max Albert, Alfio Bonanno, Francois Curlet, Roberto Marchesini, Vittorio Fagone, Raffaella Spagna & Andrea Caretto, and Claude Faure.