Bioart: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences

fruit/veggies as bioart

2012-01-26T18:00:00.000-08:00

For any of you that are interested in gardening, Mary Catherine Newcomb is an Ontario artist you might be interested in. From what I can tell, she grows squash and other fruits/vegetables in shaped molds when they first sprout, and then releases them from the form to allow them to continue to grow. The squash babies are really soft and pink or yellow, and creep me out to no end.

Artist: Laura Splan

2012-01-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

This came across my desk today. As a bioartist/print-maker I am really intrigued with her manipulation of techniques and materiality. The works are beautiful, fragile, and very very smart. Thanks for the link Tokio!

Docmentation.

2012-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

Today we used the large scale scanner and some digital photography to document some of our results with microbes. The lab is starting to stink pretty bad, and I am looking forward to moving onto the next (less pungent) project. Next class the assignments are due.

2012-01-21T08:42:00.000-08:00

First assignment, me taking a sample of my lizards head.

10% Microbial Artwork:

2012-01-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

Due Date! (EXTENSION) : January 26^th, 2012

BioART: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences

Dr. Jennifer Willet


Image source Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Staphylococcus_aureus_01.jpg

Each student will prepare an artwork that involves the growth of microbes (Bacteria or Yeast) as an aspect of the project. This project should be documented with one of the digital microscopes, a digital camera, or digital scanners available in the SVA.

On the due date each student will make a 5 min presentation of their project to the class. We will critique the project, offering suggestions and comments. The student should explain their concept, and their technical innovations, and the LINKAGES between the two. As well they should discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the project to the class.

Evaluation:

50% of the grade will be determined by the technical proficiency of the project

50% of the grade will be determined by the conceptual foundation of the project, and the manifestation of that concept in the artwork.

For more information:

on microbial art:

http://www.microbialart.com/

on artist Hunter Cole:

http://www.huntercole.org/artgallery/livingbacterialdrawings/index.html

on media for growing bacteria and yeast:

http://www.microbeworld.org/index.php?option=com_jlibrary&view=article&id=8117

microbes in general:

http://www.edu.pe.ca/southernkings/microintro.htm

Art Shark

2012-01-17T23:59:00.000-08:00

So.. I was thinking about Damien Hirst for unrelated reasons (he is a controversial and very commercial British artist for those of you who are unfamiliar) and I was wondering what to think about some of his early work in relation to bioart, and the first class reading we did. I had some thoughts/questions:

1. Is this bioart? What is this conveying to the audience? What are the ethics of something like this?
2. Why didnt anyone bring in a shark for their agar project?
3. That was a joke, please don't bring in a shark.
Also, check out the link below discussing issues around preserving this kind of work:

Related links:

issues with the shark

Shark makes a comeback

Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living 1991

Fun With AGAR!

2012-01-17T19:40:00.000-08:00

First Day working in the lab!

A little tight for 16 students and two instructors, but we made it work.

Today we checked in on the students at home collections of bacteria and yeast. We got some excellent colonies. And we begun experimenting with the properties of agar, dipping, casting, painting, and filling all sorts of containers.

I’m jealous of Cassandra Smith

2012-01-14T07:30:00.000-08:00


Artist Bio

Cassandra Smith is an artist and freelance curator working in Milwaukee, WI. She is also the co-owner and editor of Fine Line Magazine, a quarterly, international fine arts publication.

In 2006, she graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design with a degree in sculpture. After graduating, Cassandra co-owned the now defunct Armoury Gallery which exhibited contemporary work by local and national emerging artists. She has since curated several shows in the Milwaukee area. Among other places, her work has been show at the John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Milwaukee Art Museum, Hotcakes Gallery, Paper Boat Gallery and the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts.

Check out her website: http://www.cassandra-smith.com/Coyote.html

WINTER 2010 BIOART CLASS BEGINS!

2012-01-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR
WINTER 2012
01-27-386 BIOART: Contemporary Art and The Life Sciences
Tuesdays and Thursdays 11:30-2:20
Office Hours: Tuesdays 2:30-3:30
Dr. Jennifer Willet

Class Website:

http://bioartwindsor.blogspot.com/
www.incubatorartlab.com
www.jenniferwillet.com
jwillet@uwindsor.ca

INCUBATOR Lab Winter 2012

Do artists cross the line when they breed plants or animals, or use the tools of biotechnology? Scientists routinely cross the line. So do farmers, business people, military men, and doctors. Only artists and certain religious people hesitate. Of course one of the great human dilemmas is that we do not know the extent of our powers. We invent outrageously and casually as we breath, but we have no idea where our inventions will take us. Extinction? Slavery? 1000 years in Disneyland? Even if the Holocaust had never happened, we would have good reason to worry about where knowledge of genetics and DNA will take us. We will need all the awareness we can muster to engage evolution. To the extent that art favors awareness, the more artists who cross the line the better.

George Gessert

Course Objectives:

BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences is an innovative course that will allow for non-specialist students to engage theoretically and practically in the biological sciences towards fostering a critical participatory engagement with the biological sciences from a fine art perspective. This course is a visual art and science crossover lab intended for students from various disciplines to foster interdisciplinary exploration of the intersections between art and life through hands-on laboratory protocols, critical readings, and the production of contemporary artwork.

Together we will explore the ethical debates, issues of access and accountability, and overspecialization that arise from contemporary biotechnologies and bioart practices. Lectures will address a range of topics including; the biological sciences, historical crossovers between the fine arts and the hard sciences, and contemporary artists in the art/science field. Practical workshops will provide students with introductory experience with mammalian tissue culture, microscopy, DNA extraction and imaging, and genetic modification (amongst others) with an emphasis on health and safety and proper laboratory technique.

No previous experience in the Biological Sciences is necessary for successful completion of the class.

Students will be expected to complete readings, participate in class discussions and lab workshops, and produce individual and collaborative artworks and critical written texts.

Course Outcomes:

Students will have learned a variety of BSL1 biotechnological protocols. They will be able to successfully execute biological art projects within the lab, as well as their home. They will have exposure to scientific research conducted on the UofW campus, and a wider understanding of contemporary debates surrounding evolving biotechnologies. Additionally, students will gain further experience with group work, public speaking skills, health and safety, and critical writing skills.

There is a Lab fee of 100.00 CDN for this course. This fee will pay for all biological materials used in the class, as well as specialized biological and scientific consumables students will need to complete their individual projects. In addition, some students may choose to purchase more traditional art supplies for their individual projects – these expenses will fall to the individual student.

Evaluation:

10% Microbial Artwork:

Each student will prepare an artwork that involves the growth of microbes as an aspect of the project. This project should be documented with one of the digital microscopes, a digital camera, or digital scanners available in the SVA.

10% Very Small Art Project:

Each student will prepare a very small art project that is only viewable with the assistance of a microscope. This project should include some biological component – and should be documented with one of the digital microscopes in the lab.

20% Individual Research Paper:

Each student will develop an individual research paper exploring questions of bioart from critical, historical, ethical, and aesthetic perspectives. Theoretical sources can be drawn from class readings and the class bibliography – however, students are also encouraged to draw upon communication theory, media criticism, literary criticism, notions of post modernity and the post-human, gender theory and post-colonial theory from outside sources. Papers should be approximately 6 pages long, plus a one-page bibliography.

40% Individual or Collaborative Bioart Project:

Each student will devise an individual or collaborative bioart project. This work can be completed either in the laboratory (with permissions) or at home. Students are encouraged to work in consultation with the instructor in developing their project. Amateur science texts will be made available to the class, to assist in developing individual artworks and protocols.

20% Class Participation:

Students will be expected to attend ALL classes, and actively participate in class discussions, analyzing readings, participating in field trips, and workshops. Additionally, each student will be expected to make a minimum of two posts to the class blog. This can be in the form of critical discussion, images, announcements, poetry, web links, etc.

Proposed Field Trips: (currently under negotiation)

Day Hike Field Trip

University of Windsor: Biological Sciences

University of Windsor: Anatomy Lab

INCUBATOR Lab Winter 2012

More than a game: Researchers design video games that feature real microorganisms

2011-01-21T09:52:00.000-08:00

with thanks to Stephen Pender....

"A research group led by Stanford bioengineering professor Ingmar Riedel-Kruse has developed several real video games, inspired by Pac-Man, PONG and other classics, starring live organisms. "The basic idea," explains Riedel-Kruse,"is to create games where a player has ability to interact with living matter during game play.""

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=more-than-a-game-researchers-design-2011-01-20

Final Bioart Projects 2010

2010-12-21T10:32:00.001-08:00

Final Bioart Projects 2010

2010-12-21T10:30:00.001-08:00

Final Bioart Projects 2010

2010-12-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Yans Massurich

2010-12-13T08:37:00.000-08:00

I found a video of Yans Marussich's performance called "Blue Remix". In an early lecture I remember hearing about it and being shocked. I followed up on it at his website.

Basically he drinks a blue liquid (which I've heard can be toxic) and sits nude in a clear air tight box until he has a perfusion of sweat. The sweat is a dark blue and drips down his entire body. He remains still the entire time, it's almost like a meditation. I'm not sure how much pain he endures but it seems pretty dangerous. It is a live performance so there are people crowded around the box watching. It takes close to an hour I believe.
Another interesting component to the piece is a live DJ. Somehow the DJ has a connection to the internal activity to Marussich's body which is interpreted in his mix. This reminded me of Stephen's final project with the protozoa videos synced with his live audio performance.

Here is an image of Blue Remix and a video link:
http://www.yannmarussich.ch/home.php#

Police Bees And The Imagined Future Of "Pharming"

2010-12-11T13:53:00.000-08:00

The question 'What If...?' is one asked by a recent exhibit curated by Anthony Dunn and Fiona Raby at the Welcome Collection where the participating artists are asked to question and imagine the "human consequences of different technological futures". One of the exhibits there is Thomas Thwaites' Policing Genes.

Thwaites collaborated with Professor Gloria Laycock and James French, University College London, "to explore a near future society where people -whether they have lawful intentions or not- would be able to genetically engineer plants at home":

Pharmaceutical companies are experimenting with pharming - genetically engineering plants to produce useful, and valuable drugs. Currently undergoing field trials are tomato plants that produce a vaccine for Alzheimer's disease, and potatoesthat immunize against Hepatitis B. Many more Plant-Made-Pharmaceuticals are being developed in laboratories around the world.

However, the techniques to insert genes into plants are within reach of the amateur, and the criminal. Policing Genes speculates that genetic engineering will also find a use outside the law, with innocent-looking garden plants modified to produce narcotics and unlicensed pharmaceuticals.
The genetics of the plants in your garden or allotment could become a police matter...

Genetically Modified Organisms on display with the "Policing Genes" exhibit.

The video below gives you an idea of how these police units might perform like.

'Grow Your Own' - from the Policing Genes Project from Thomas Thwaites on Vimeo.

This piece brings up some interesting ideas around bioethics and the potentials of bio-modification. As certain technologies become more readily available and understood new challenges are faced by society when regulating a policing certain activity. This struggle/debate is also important for the citizens to engage with in order to maintain certain freedoms within the field of bio-technology.

To read an interview with the artist, click here.

Photographs and text from we-make-money-not-art.com

2010-12-11T02:55:00.001-08:00

Nasa Research

2010-12-10T13:08:00.000-08:00

Is it possible that there is more to life than we know of? On December 2nd Nasa has introduced to the world a better understanding of life based on research findings of a new strand of a common bacteria called Gammaproteobacteria. This new strand is GFAJ-1. All life forms on earth that we know of so far are made up of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and sulfer but GFAJ-1 has added a twist. Instead of using phosphorus as one of the six main building blocks, it uses arsenic, a toxic chemical, in a way that has never been seen thus far.

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/features/astrobiology_toxic_chemical.html

Praeter Naturam - Beyond Nature

2010-12-09T09:17:00.000-08:00

The amphibians studied by Brandon Ballengee are praeter naturam, beyond nature. Because of pollution, parasites or predators, the frogs have morphological anomalies such as extra, deformed or missing limbs.

According to Ballengee, amphibians are environmental canaries in the coal mine. The state of this sentinel group of animals is rather worrying, they are not only declining all across the globe, they are also presenting increasing levels of deformities.

An article from the BBC, which quotes Ballengee as well as a series of scientists, looks into the reasons for the deformities. Many researchers believe the problem is caused by chemical pollution. Others say that predators or parasites might be responsible for the deformities.

Many amphibians with extra limbs were actually infected by small parasitic flatworms called Riberoria trematodes. The parasites burrow into the hindquarters of tadpoles where they physically rearrange the limb bud cells and thereby interfere with limb development.

Missing or deformed limbs are caused by dragonfly nymphs. The insect rarely eats the entire tadpoles. Instead, they grab it, chew at a hind limb -often removing it altogether- and then release their prey. If the tadpole survives it metamorphoses into a toad with missing or deformed hind limbs, depending on the developmental stage of the tadpole.

However, scientists don't completely rule out chemicals as the cause of some missing limbs.

For more information, check out this video interview of the artist by the Arts Catalyst:

2010-12-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

Genetically Modified Plants

2010-12-02T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hey, I also wanted to put this website out there:

http://cera-gmc.org

It contains a database of all the genetically modified crops that have been produced, what genes have been added to them and their effect, and what countries they are being grown in. It even has a database of scientific journals about the effects of genetically modified crops.
(I was blown away by how may there were...a corn search brought up ~32 hits)

Wedding Rings Made from your Partners Bone

2010-11-30T15:14:00.000-08:00

The post a couple down about skin jewelry reminded me of this story I heard on the radio a little while back about wedding rings made out of your partners bone....apparently they can use a section of your wisdom teeth to do it:

Bone rings exchanged by couples

The growing process is long and is fragile, but has future potential

Couples are being given the opportunity to exchange jewellery made from samples of their bone grown in the laboratory.

Scientists obtain bone cells from wisdom teeth and then grow them on a "scaffold" material in the lab.

The efforts are part of a collaboration between scientists and artists aiming to learn how to craft complex shapes from bone tissue.

Examples are to go on display at an exhibition at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in London.

I would get sent photographs of the material as it was growing so in some sense I felt an emotional connection to the process

Harriet Harriss

Harriet Harriss and Matt Harrison, one of five couples involved in the project, have just been presented with their rings made from their bone cells.

"I do think it's interesting that I've only been in contact with bone when it's been in my dinner," said Harriet, "So it's intriguing to have my own bone, my own matter objectified in this way and made into something precious and symbolic.

Her partner Matt told BBC News: "When you think about it for a while, it's like ivory but more ethical, and the material has never been part of Harriet, just grown from her code taken from her body.

He added: "Yes it's the reason why people are interested and why they have the 'yuck' factor but when you see the object and think about it, I don't think it is gross at all. It's quite clean and pure."

Bone scaffold

The scientists extracted the participants' wisdom teeth to get at a sliver of bone that attaches them to the jawbone.

They then dissolve the bone mineral and extract the bone cells to go into the lab.

These are fed with nutrients and grown on a "scaffold" material called bioglass, a special bioactive ceramic which mimics the structure of bone material.

Harriet and Matt are one of the volunteer couples who will exchange bones

The original plan was to attempt to take a biopsy from the volunteers, but the ethics and the risks of undergoing such a medical procedure were too great.

Eventually, the technique could be used to grow large bits of bone for people with cancer or who need bone replacements.

"This will improve the welfare of the patient as you won't need to harvest bone from elsewhere in the body," explained Dr Ian Thompson, a research fellow in oral and maxillofacial surgery at King's College who is the scientist on the project.

"So if you have damaged a part of your jaw, you won't need to take a piece of the rib or somewhere else in the body to replace that bit of damaged bone we would simply grow that new piece in the laboratory and then implant it."

Dr Thompson says he thinks it will be used in clinical practice, but not in his lifetime.

Tobie Kerridge and Nikki Stott, the artists on the project, fit the bone into jewellery made of bone and silver, to a design agreed with the couples.

"I would get sent photographs of the material as it was growing so in some sense I felt an emotional connection to the process," said Harriet.

"I am intrigued by how, for many people what is in their bodies is a source of distress or discomfort for them.

"To take something that is from myself and make it into something precious is a lovely thing and means quite a lot to me."

Examples of biojewellery can be seen at an exhibition in the atrium of Guy's Hospital, London, from 7 December until 14 February 2007.

from the website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6215702.stm

Colorful Images

2010-11-29T14:58:00.000-08:00

I found this article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/30/science/30brain.html and this is a visual show: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2010/11/29/science/20101130-brain.html

New on the Dinner Menu: Franken-fish??

2010-11-28T22:47:00.000-08:00

Very soon we could all be unknowingly consuming genetically engineered (GE) animals. At least, this is the fear of many concerned with the recent proposal by AquaBounty Technologies hoping for approval of the first ever sales of their 'Super Fish' by the FDA. The salmon have been scientifically modified with a growth hormone so that they grow at twice the rate to reduce over fishing and increase harvest. However, many are concerned about the unknown risks attached to this 'Franken-fish' which they feel will only lead to a future in which all one consumes are genetically modified animals. Already the University of Guelph has GE pigs being grown.

This story really caught my interest, and is what inspired my final Bioart assignment this semester. Will the approval of the first genetically modified Salmon lead to a future filled with GE animals and humans alike???

Read the Windsor Star article on the right, or watch the NBC News report from the link below.

http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-ca&from=customplayer_en-ca_news&fg=ca.msn.com&vid=53633d2c-7d22-49ae-b254-351b94c14a74

Pooktre Tree Shaping

2010-11-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Pooktre Tree Shaping

After searching around for something interesting to post onto the blog. I came across a form of art that has been around for a very long time. It's called Tree shaping.

Tree shaping is the art of training/manipulating living trees, plants and even the roots into shapes and structures.

The trees can me manipulated in many ways with the use of various tools, bending, pleaching, weaving, twisting, braiding, grafting, framing, molding, controlling light, or pruning to create a shaped tree.

Peter Cook and Becky Northey are two artists I found interesting.

Their pieces are completely unique and something I've never seen before, well, not to this degree. I've seen the bridges and archways but never coffee tables, chairs, or tree people. All of these pieces have been developed over a few years. They use wire to gently shape the trees and they mostly use the Myrobalan plum tree for their art.

I loved how they gave trees a physical form that looks like a human. Probably the closest thing to seeing trees come to life.

For more information or to see more works by Peter Cook and Becky Northy please visit there site. http://www.pooktre.com/index.html

Jewellery Made of Skin Cells!

2010-11-26T21:04:00.000-08:00

I came across this website when researching different bioartwork and though her project was finished a few years ago, I found it very interesting, and worthy of the Bioart Blog! Artist Marta Lwin creates wearable jewellery made of actual human skin cells! Using tissue culture techniques, she grows the epithelial cells in a laboratory into different shapes which, after treatment, can be worn on the skin!

Image to the right: From Marta's website 'EpiSkin by Marta Lwin'
http://stage.itp.nyu.edu/~mjl359/wearables/skindesign.html

Fiber Artists

2010-11-26T16:27:00.000-08:00

Take a look!

Researchers at the University of Michigan Centre for Organogenesis designed a series of quilts, which directly relate to scientific photographs used for health research. The research is used to study tissues that are linked to overall health and diseases. The photos are on display to raise public awareness about the combination of arts and science in a professional healthcare setting.

Each photograph describes the function of the organ and its use within the human body. The quilts correspond with the photograph and each artist talks about how the image has affected them

http://www.fiberartists-looseends.com/bioart2010.html

2010-11-21T23:31:00.001-08:00

2010-11-19T23:24:00.002-08:00

Although these sculptures (made in Thailand) are made out of bread, they look sickeningly realistic and still bring up many ethical issues. It seems disgusting to be eating parts of humans, especially if humans are eating parts of other humans. But in actuality, cannibalism amongst other animals is quite normal. Scientists suggest that even today many of us carry a gene that evolved as protection against brain diseases that can be spread by eating human flesh (National Geographic).

I’m getting a bit off topic here, but my point is why does it seem so normal for us to see parts of other animals chopped and wrapped in this way, but to see something that resembles a human has been embedded in us to seem so much more bothersome?

Link to the bread sculptures:

http://skewster.com/569

http://www.geekologie.com/2008/05/wtf_thats_gross_bread_head_bak.php

Information about the cannibalism gene:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0410_030410_cannibal.html

Department of Biology.

2010-11-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Thank you to Dr. Dora Cavallo-Medved from the Department of Biological Sciences at The University of Windsor who presented her research to the class last night.

http://www.med.wayne.edu/pharmacology/CavalloMedved.asp

And Thank you to Dr. Dennis Higgs from epartment of Biological Sciences at The University of Windsor who presented his research and gave us a tour of his labs last week.

http://web2.uwindsor.ca/courses/biology/higgs/labmbs.html

We are very pleased with the valuable art/science connections these individuals have provided for the class.

U.S. Says Genes Should Not Be Eligible for Patents

2010-11-16T07:16:00.000-08:00

Very interesting news:

Reversing a longstanding policy, the federal government said on Friday that human and other genes should not be eligible for patents because they are part of nature. The new position could have a huge impact on medicine and on the biotechnology industry.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/30/business/30drug.html?_r=3

Bioart, I think

2010-11-15T21:34:00.001-08:00

I've been going through my bookmarked pages looking for biology-related artists and Bioart sites that I have found really intriguing over the past few years.

Dark Roasted Blend
All about weird things in general... I've found many great, rare images on this blog that you won't normally stumble upon on Google Images. At the top of the page choose from the following categories: animals, art, nature, and weird; specifically for Bioart-type articles. The page I linked has some cool microscopic photos of water bears!

The Telegraph: Microcosmos

There are 24 scanning electron microscope images of household items, computer parts, bugs, and parts of humans. Even dust looks surprisingly pretty when viewed under a very powerful microscope.

Environmental Graffiti

"Provides an eclectic mix of the most bizarre, funny, and interesting environmental news on the planet." The science category could provide ideas and information for someone's final Bioart paper. There's also an art and design category although the articles in it aren't necessarily going to be related to science.

Waiting for October: Microscopic World

I really love these microscopic images of living things. A baby squid embryo looks like a South Park character! Diatom (aquatic algae) skeletons arranged into a Christmas tree image!

Reid Peppard

Taxidermied hair accessories and jewelry. And for men, a rat head bow tie. Weird.

Caleb Charland

2010-11-14T07:04:00.001-08:00

This artist makes images allowing bacteria to grow on photographic film. For more info check out his website: http://www.calebcharland.com/

MRI of food website.

2010-11-12T07:38:00.000-08:00

Amanda White (MFA student at UofW) sent me this link and I thought you all might find it interesting.

http://insideinsides.blogspot.com/

Henrietta Lacks and her Immortal Cells

2010-11-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

While surfing the web I came across a very interesting individual. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, and she died in the 1950's from cervical cancer.
The remarkable thing about Henrietta was that her cells kept regenerating even after her death.
This was obviously a very important medical discovery that has enabled us to make considerable scientific advances, however it also has a more sinister side.
We have spoken a lot about morals and ethics this semester so I am sure you will all disagree with the way they found out about this wonderful breakthrough and how it was dealt with.
Henrietta's cells were taken and used to benefit many, many people bar her and her family. HeLa cells, named for her, saved a lot of lives and a considerable amount of money was made, but the Lacks family never saw any compensation. This is an ongoing dispute, one that you can read online or in a book released this year.

This article is about the book, but I suggest you also search the scientific merits of such a discovery.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123232331

I hope I am not posting something that everybody already knew!

Glow-in-the-Dark Bacteria

2010-11-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

When I first started brainstorming about the final project, I came up with the greatest and most unique ideas ever! (So I thought) This is idea involved making pictures with glow in the dark bacteria. Of course, when I began researching I found that this product was already widely marketed!

A website called, CURB: The Natural Media Company, is a great source for interesting media stunts, exhibitions and art that is completely natural and sustainable. One of their products is GlowFungi which they call “DiscoFungi.” It is a harmless bacteria that naturally glows in the dark for up to a week with no added chemicals. You are able to buy the bacteria and apply it to anything from a wall in your house to grass outside--anything inside or outside the home. Upon further research I found that the bacteria are a type of florescent protein and there are many colours available to purchase at a commercial level. Anyone can buy these harmless products that make a great project for young kids. There is even a teacher’s guide of how to introduce a bioluminescence gene into E.coli. It isn’t exactly easy, but definitely doable in a lab like the one at Lebel.

In the end, I found that bioluminescent bacteria is already present in the commercial market. Maybe this shows that bioart is making its way into main stream culture. Nonetheless, I will have to think if a new bioart project, hoping that my next idea isn’t so easy a 5 year old can do it!

BioART: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences Fall 2010

2010-11-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I am behind in postings for this semester of the bioart class blog. But we are having a GREAT time! Expect more info soon! J

THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR

FALL 2010

27-390 Studies in the Visual Arts

Monday and Wednesday 5:30 – 8:30

Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 4:00 – 5:30

BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences

Jennifer Willet

Class Website:

http://bioartwindsor.blogspot.com/

www.incubatorartlab.com

www.jenniferwillet.com

jwillet@uwindsor.ca

George Gessert

Course Objectives:

No previous experience in the Biological Sciences is necessary for successful completion of the class.

Students will be expected to complete readings, participate in class discussions and lab workshops, and produce individual and collaborative artworks and critical written texts.

Course Outcomes:

Evaluation:

10% Class Participation:

Students will be expected to attend ALL classes, and actively participate in class discussions, field trips, and workshops. Additionally, each student will be expected to make a minimum of two posts to the class blog. This can be in the form of critical discussion, images, announcements, poetry, web links, etc.

10% Reading Presentation/Discussion:

Each student will (or with a partner, depending on class size) select a reading from the course outline and prepare a 10 min discussion in regards to that reading. Each Presentation will address the following questions.

What are the central themes of the reading?

How does this relate to questions of bioart raised in the class?

What arguments within the reading do you agree/disagree with?

20% Very Small Art Project:

40% Individual or Collaborative Bioart Project:

Each student will devise an individual or two-person bioart project. This work can be completed either in the laboratory (with permissions) or at home. Students are encouraged to work in consultation with the instructor in developing their project. Amateur Science texts will be made available to the class, to assist in developing individual artworks and protocols.

20% Individual Research Paper:

Each student will develop an individual research paper exploring questions of bioart from critical, historical, ethical, and aesthetic perspectives. Theoretical sources can be drawn from class readings and the class bibliography – however, students are also encouraged to draw upon communication theory, media criticism, literary criticism, notions of post modernity and the post-human, gender theory and post-colonial theory from outside sources. Final papers should be approximately ten pages long, with a one-page bibliography.

Proposed Field Trips: (currently under negotiation)

Day Hike Field Trip

University of Windsor: Biological Sciences

SYLLABUS: Subject to change.

Sept. 13 · Introduction to course and outline.

· Introduction to Bioart facilities, Health and Safety.

· Video Screening.

Sept. 15 · Introduction to Bioart Lecture.

Sept. 20 · Reading Class discussion: “Labs Shut Open: A Biotech Hands-on Workshop for artists.”

· Sterile Technique / Seed Germination.

Sept. 22 · Bacteria / Yeast lab (visitor?)

Sept. 27 · Microscopy - very small performance art!

Oct. 04 · Reading Class discussion: “Divine Plants and Magic Animals”

· Hydroponics

Oct. 06 · Plant Tissue Culture

Oct. 11 · THANKSGIVING No Classes

Oct. 13 · DUE DATE: Very Small Art Projects
· Class Critique: Very Small Art Projects

Oct. 18 · Cell Break: Day Hike in a natural location off campus!

Oct. 20 · Fermentation: the oldest biotechnology… making beer.

Oct. 25 · Class Canceled (Jennifer away)

Oct. 27 ·SKYPE meeting! Live From Montreal! Bioremediation workshop. (Jennifer away)

Nov. 01 · Final Project proposals Due due.

· Individual student meetings

Nov. 03 · Reading Class discussion: “Biology as Ideology”

· Beer Tasting?

Nov. 08 · GFP Modification of Bacteria

Nov. 10 · Class visit to Biological Sciences

· (LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW FROM COURSE)

Nov. 15 · Lab Follow up!

Nov. 17 · Visit from Dora Cavallo-Medved, Ph.D. Biological Sciences (7:00 pm – 9:00 pm.)

Nov. 22 · Open Studio

Nov. 24 · Final Critiques.

· Final Bioart Project due!
· Student Evaluations

Nov. 29 - Dec. 06 · Independent work on Research Paper (Jennifer away)

Dec. 13 · Final Papers Due in Willet’s Mailbox

Dec. 16 · Paper Pickup with final grades.

· Individual student meetings with Jennifer (if they wish.)

Nomadic Plants/Plantas Nómadas

2010-09-28T06:10:00.000-07:00

I found this piece called Nomadic Plants by Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza on We Make Money Not Art very interesting. This blog has a really good BioArt archive that everyone should check out!

"Vegetation and microorganisms live in symbiosis inside the body of the Nomadic Plants robot. Whenever its bacteria require nourishment, the self-sufficient robot will move towards a contaminated river and 'drink' water from it. Through a process of microbial fuel cell, the elements contained in the water are decomposed and turned into energy that can feed the brain circuits of the robot. The surplus is then used to create life, enabling plants to complete their own life cycle. As Gilberto wrote in our email conversation, "The nomadic plant is a portray of our own species. It also deals with the alienated transformation of this new hybrid species that fights for its survival in a deteriorated environment." " - We Make Money Not Art,

petri dish art

2009-12-26T19:53:00.000-08:00

hey everyone! i know the class has come to a close but i found this great link and i thought what the hell i'll post it!

the link:
http://www.aegisasia.com/img/petri_dish_fungus/petri_dish_fungus.html#

BioBuffet

2009-12-08T22:40:00.000-08:00

Where dreams come true:

Human Evolution

2009-12-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

National Geographic predicts the next stages in human evolution....

Check out the third prediction.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091124-origin-of-species-150-darwin-human-evolution.html

BIOBUFFET TONIGHT!

2009-12-08T06:17:00.000-08:00

All are welcome!!!

look familiar?

2009-12-03T23:06:00.001-08:00

anyone from our class remember anything like this? I think, after 4 years in University, this lab will forever be burned into my memory!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26kfj6n-gcw

some interesting sites.

2009-11-27T14:20:00.000-08:00

Came across this site A LONG time ago; thought I'd share it with you.

http://www.futurefarmers.com

And if you go into PROJECTS tab on the top RIGHT there are some really interesting things they are doing with art and life. Here are just a couple examples... but you should REALLY check out the cool site.

(This is called Lunchbox Laboratory: using algae to produce hydrogen and have discovered that it is a viable renewable energy form, in thatalgae is everywhere and it could also be used to produce biodeisel. One of the main hurdles for the research is to find the most productive strains of algae. Since there are potentially millions of strains, this task is monumental. Lunchbox Laboratory is a prototype for a potentially distributed research tool that would be sent to schools such that young scientists could do primary screening of a collection of algae strains. This would serve as a preliminary screening such that non productive strains would be ruled out and only productive strains would reach labs. This project enables students to participate in big science as well as network with other students nationwide to compare notes.)

(This one is called Rainwater Harvestor/Greywater feedback Loop: water saving system made from salvaged materials. It stores two types of water–water that normally runs away while becoming hot and rain water. The water is stored in the 3 small recycling bins which can also be used as benches to sit upon. The hand crank device on the right is used to pump stored water back to the sink to be used at a later time. The sink is equip with a variable drain allowing you to decide to let your water run back into the storage units, into the greywater system to the garden or out to the city system.)

(Victory Gardens: ngoing project being developed with the City of San Francisco. The program began as a utopian proposal and has now become a pilot project that supports the transition of backyard, front yard, window boxes, rooftops and unused land into food production areas.)

AND they also created a VIDEO GAME:
http://www.futurefarmers.com/pinga/pinga.html
CALLED PINGABOOT
about GMO food.
play the game it's fun.

BIObuffet Event

2009-11-23T11:57:00.000-08:00

You are invited to the official launch of the INCUBATOR lab in the School of Visual Arts at the University of Windsor. "BIObuffet: Where Art and Science Meet in the Everyday" is a multi purpose event - launching the first university-based biological art lab in Canada: INCUBATOR. - an exhibit of student work completed in the Bioart: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences class. you can expect art / biology / food / entertainment / hands on biotechnological protocols / cash bar / and critical thinking about the hard sciences. December 08, 2009 - From 6:00-9:00 pm Lebel Building. Room 132 and 135A School of Visual Arts, The University of Windsor http://bioartwindsor.blogspot.com/ Sponsors: SSHRC - Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada CLIF Awards - Centre for Teaching and Learning, University of Windsor Best, Jennifer
+++++++++++++++++++++
Dr. Jennifer Willet
Assistant Professor

Director, INCUBATOR: Hybrid Laboratory at the intersection of Art Science and Ecology.

School of Visual Art
University of Windsor
Lebel Building, Office 107
401 Sunset Ave. Windsor, ON
CANADA N9B 3P4

www.jenniferwillet.com

Suppliers!

2009-11-22T15:27:00.000-08:00

Hi All.
A number of you have been asking me for contact info for possible Bioart suppliers.
J.

Carolina Biological:
http://www.carolina.com/

Sarstedt:
http://www.sarstedt.com/

Boreal Northwest:
http://boreal.com/

Subtle Technologies 2010

2009-11-22T15:25:00.000-08:00

For your information:

forwarded to me bye Celia Wilson, President of the Visual Arts Society, UofW.

http://www.subtletechnologies.com/
13th Annual Subtle Technologies Festival - The Place Where Art and Science Meet
Toronto June 3 – 6 2010

Call for Submissions - investigating sustainability
Deadline January 9 2010
It will be nearly half a century since Rachel Carson’s book “Silent Spring”, just over five since Al Gore’s “Inconvenient Truth”, and less than three years since Anya Hindmarch’s “I’m not a plastic bag” eco-bag hit the shelves. The grassroots sustainability movement has taken hold fostering a green life style. This may be a victory of ideology, yet at the same time, it has matured into a new social norm that suspiciously smells of capitalism. The replacements are still a chain in consumption. Ecological compact fluorescent light bulbs contain mercury, and biofuels have an impact beyond ethanol production. If sustainability is narrowly defined as a closed system that produces what it consumes, by all means, the boundary conditions leave us hanging, looking for more. What can this more, be?

For this year’s Subtle Technologies Festival, we wish to explore sustainability through a critical multidisciplinary lens. We invite investigations of the role that decentralization, diversity and societal power dynamics plays in our attempts at maintaining a sustainable future. Where does the death of languages, cultures and peoples fit into the sustainability discussion? We look forward to critical discussions that explore multiple meanings of sustainability in this state of ecological and global health. We will be discussing the science and technology behind sustainable practices and design as well as the science behind some of the events and circumstances that have driven us to seek sustainable solutions. What role does the artist play in bringing forth new layers of understandings in this discussion?

As in previous years, we invite submissions from various practices. For 12 years, Subtle Technologies has provided a forum where participants share their projects, theories and technologies around an annual theme. Subtle Technologies is also a place where artists, scientists, and other innovators inspire, inform and generate new concepts and tools.

Specifically, this year we are looking for proposals for presentations for our symposium, works for our exhibitions, video and film submissions for screenings, workshops and partners for collaborations. Some example areas of exploration in sustainability include: political and historical perspectives, design and architectural practices, global warming, climate change refugees, agriculture, water and other resource management, cultural preservation, material science, alternative energy systems, corporate responsibility, co-operatives and microfinance, biodiversity conservation, preservation of indigenous knowledge, and the culture of consumption.

Please make a submission on our website http://www.subtletechnologies.com by January 9 2010.

Some pics from tonight.

2009-11-19T18:20:00.001-08:00

interesting channel on youtube

2009-11-17T20:00:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/artsciencemovies

Bioart channel.

Here are some FAVOURTIES

bacteria art

2009-11-17T19:47:00.000-08:00

Here are a few photos taken of bacteria cultures...looks like art to me?

DENISE KING mentioned on http://ecoartblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/bacteria-culture.html

Here are the billions of bacteria that were put in a Petri dish. This is from Eshel Ben-Jacob (http://star.tau.ac.il/~eshel/) et al, of the Tel- Aviv University.

In Bacteria Art, a scientist would grow the different kinds of bacteria into a Petri dish. A Petri dish is a cylindrical container with a lid where biologists use to study cells. This is how scientist studies the bacteria’s in order for them to create new antibiotics. The bacteria then create colonies and therefore make a very unique pattern that will very much look like an art with different colors. This is now what they call a Bacteria Art.

It Ap-PEAR-s to be the Real Deal

2009-11-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

"Chinese farmer Hao Xianzhang has perfected the process of growing pears inside Buddha shaped plastic molds.

Each pear shaped like Buddha costs around 50 yuan ($7.32 USD)"

For more pics just follow the link.

{via Link}

Plant Tissue Culture!!

2009-11-09T09:08:00.001-08:00

PAUL VANOUSE: Visiting Speaker

2009-11-09T08:54:00.001-08:00

PAUL VANOUSE: Visiting Speaker

2009-11-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

We really owe a special thanks to Paul Vanouse - for an excellent artist talk - and gel electrophoresis lab!

Borderlands Radio

2009-11-07T16:40:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful program on CJAM, Wednesday nights from 8pm to 8:30. The host, Benny Dreadful, talks about weird news from all around the world. This show specifically talks about bunnies in Sweden and it made me think of the muskrat overpopulation issue Jennifer talked about in class. It's towards the end of the show, enjoy!

http://cjamlog1.cjam.ca/mp3dirnew/76-Borderlands-20091021-2000-t1256151600.mp3

It's a very interesting show, I would suggest listening to it, if you can.

Infective Art: Bacterial Photobooth.

2009-11-06T21:29:00.000-08:00

Joe, Aged Seven (2 minute exposure) / Josh, Aged Six (2 minute exposure)

Simon Park says:

I have collaboration with an artist called Anne Brodie in which we have developed the world’s most unusual photobooth. Using the booth we take portraits of people using only the ephemeral blue-green light produced by bioluminescent bacteria (100s of agar plates and 10 litres of culture). We will be using the photobooth at the “Infective Art” evening at the DANA centre of the Science Museum on 26th November.

Unlike sunlight or artificial light, bacterial bioluminescence is of a pure and refined quality (a single wavelength of ~475 nm), a property that endows it with unique revelatory properties. When a human body is imaged with bacterial light, it does more than illuminate; the light is of a type that penetrates adornments, glamour, and the inconsequential surface features of the face revealing far more about the individual behind it than does the unrefined cocktail of light wavelengths that is sunlight. An example of its properties can be seen in these portraits of my children.

BioArt Redemption 2009

2009-11-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

BioArt Windsor 2009: Seed Germination from Mike Ngo on Vimeo.

'Da Hood

2009-11-05T17:01:00.000-08:00

Human Gene Patents

2009-11-03T08:09:00.000-08:00

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/11/genes/

2009-10-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

God bless this man.
The 7 min 55sec mark is worth waiting for...

PAUL VANOUSE: Visiting Speaker

2009-10-27T08:58:00.001-07:00

Hello All.

I have a friend coming as a visiting speaker on thursday:

Paul Vanouse
Artist Talk
Oct 29, 2009 at 2:30
Lebel Building, Rm 115
University of Windsor

Paul Vanouse
Gel Electrophesis Workshop
Oct 29, 2009 at 4:00
Lebel Building, Rm 135a
University of Windsor.

All are welcome!

Paul Vanouse (USA) is Associate Professor of Visual Studies, University at Buffalo. Located within the hyper-real context of electronic environments, His art practice examines issues raised by new techno-sciences, including data collection and genetics, in relation to socio-political contexts. He is currently co-director of the Emerging Practices MFA programme, U of Buffalo.

We make money not art

2009-10-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Found this website will searching for information for my paper.
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/bioart/
It provides a bit of information on bioart

As i was reading i came a crossed this art school called VIVO ARTS SCHOOL FOR TRANSGENIC AESTHETICS
http://vastal.waag.org/

Thought it was interesting.

Also came a crossed another section on the website for BIOTECH art.
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/biotech_art/

RAPE IN A DIFFERENT GUISE

2009-10-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

I received this in an email this morning and thought it coincided a little with Victor's "Frankenfood" article. It's insane that certain things which are harmful to us, are marketed as food products. I've read that fluoride is poisonous to us, also, but that is another story. Enjoy!

Dear Editors

Recently I bought a cooking oil that's new to our supermarkets, Canola Oil.

I tried it because the label assured me it was lowest in "bad" fats. However, when I had used half the bottle, I concluded that the label told me surprisingly little else and I started to wonder: where does Canola oil come from?

Olive oil comes from olives, peanut oil from peanuts, sunflower oil from sunflowers; but what is a canola? There was nothing on the label to enlighten me, which I thought odd. So, I did some investigating on the Internet.

There are plenty of official Canola sites lauding this new "wonder" oil with all its low-fat health benefits. It takes a little longer to find sites that tell the less palatable details. Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words " Canada " and "oil". Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the rapeseed plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants.

According to AgriAlternatives, The Online Innovation and Technology Magazine for Farmers, "By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are toxic to humans and other animals". (This, by the way, is one of the websites singing the praises of the new canola industry.)

Rapeseed oil is poisonous to living things and an excellent insect repellent. I have been using it (in very diluted form, as per instructions) to kill the aphids on my roses for the last two years. It works very well; it suffocates them. Ask for it at your nursery. Rape is an oil that is used as a lubricant, fuel, soap and synthetic rubber base and as a illuminant for colour pages in magazines. It is an industrial oil. It is not a food.

Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress,anaemia, constipation, irritability and blindness in animals and humans. Rape oil was widely used in animal feeds in England and Europe between 1986 and 1991, when it was thrown out. Remember the "Mad Cow Disease" scare, when millions of unfortunate cattle in the UK were slaughtered in case of infecting humans? Cattle were being fed on a mixture containing material from dead sheep, and sheep suffer from a disease called "scrapie". It was thought this was how "Mad Cow" began and started to infiltrate the human chain. What is interesting is that when rape oil was removed from animal feed, 'scrapie' disappeared. We also haven't seen any further reports of "Mad Cow" since rape oil was removed from the feed. Perhaps not scientifically proven, but interesting all the same.

US and Canadian farmers grow genetically engineered rapeseed and manufacturers use its oil (canola) in thousands of processed foods, with the blessings of Canadian and US government watchdog agencies. The canola supporting websites say that canola is safe to use. They admit it was developed from the rapeseed, but insist that through genetic engineering it is no longer rapeseed, but "canola" instead. Except canola means "Canadian oil"; and the plant is still a rape plant, albeit genetically modified.

The new name provides perfect cover for commercial interests wanting to take billions. Look at the ingredients list on labels. Apparently peanut oil is being replaced with rape oil. You'll find it in an alarming number of processed foods. There's more, but to conclude: rape oil was the source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas, which was banned after blistering the lungs and skins of hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians during W.W.I. Recent French reports indicate that it was again in use during the Gulf War. Check products for ingredients. If the label says, "may contain the following" and lists canola oil, you know it contains canola oil because it is the cheapest oil and the Canadian government subsidises it to industries involved in food processing. I don't know what you'll be cooking with tonight, but I'll be using olive oil and old-fashioned butter, from a genetically unmodified cow.

Yours Sincerely

Say No to Canola

Athalie Russell
Research Finance Officer
Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Cape Town

Tel: (021) 406 6491
Fax: (021) 406 6390
Email: skalu@curie.uct.ac.za

Something of Interest

2009-10-25T22:59:00.000-07:00

hey everyone, i happened to come across this journal and its chalk full of bio-art and tech-art. hopefully someone will either find it of use or find something interesting in it. enjoy.

http://www.antennae.org.uk/ANTENNAE%20ISSUE%209.doc.pdf

Aquaponics.

2009-10-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

This living sculpture, which is a collaboration project between Amy Young and Ken Rinaldo, is entitled The Farm Fountain. It's an interesting piece of art that uses the idea of sustainability - the fish and the plants are using each other to survive and thrive!

Here's the link on how you can make your own farm fountain! http://farmfountain.com/howto/index.html

Holland: De Koe Sprong Over De Maan

2009-10-25T10:29:00.000-07:00

FKOL Food Art by Boo Chapple & Caitlin Berrigan!

HOLLAND: Marta de Menezes

2009-10-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Marta's Contributions to the FKOL. For more information: http://www.martademenezes.com/ http://www.rhizome.org/editorial/18 http://www.igc.gulbenkian.pt/node/view/117

Holland: FKOL Festival Key of Life

2009-10-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

FKOL: Festival Key Of Life
http://www.fkol.nl/

Scheltema Complex Exhibition:

HOLLAND: Photo shoot at the WAAG

2009-10-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Willet and Kira O'Reilly Photographer: Bernd Bohm With special thanks to Adam Zaretsky! WAAG Soceity: http://www.waag.org/news/60199

Carrot Seed Germination - for Tissue Culture

2009-10-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. These are GREAT photos! Thank you for all your posts. I have one image to contribute - a better image of the seeds. J

Lean Back, Lean Back.... and Keep The Lab Sterile!

2009-10-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

Today's Lab: Prep'in Carrot Seeds For Germination.

Soilless.

2009-10-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Today's general maintenance on our hydroponics. We lost a few but we're staying positive.

Transgenic Bioart

2009-10-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

Genetic alteration of living beings as a type of performance art. Transgenic bioart is ambiguously situated in relation to bioengineering and law. As a type of “scientific” endeavor, bioengineering receives preferential treatment under several laws, including anticruelty statutes, but art does not consistently receive similarly favorable treatment.

Thus, deciding whether a particular transgenic bioart project is “art” or “science” becomes a necessary, but surprisingly difficult, interpretive exercise if one is seeking to protect animals. That difficulty arises not only because of the nature of transgenic bioart but also because of variance in the type of collaborative relationships that exist between bioartists and scientists.

There is no case law on the subject of whether or when transgenic bioart in general or some specific projects are considered “scientific,” and it is difficult to predict whether or how specific anticruelty statutes would be applied. However, one thing is clear: the law has not thus far impeded any bioartistic endeavor even when such endeavors result in the suffering of sentient animals. To date, bioartists have faced only one legal challenge, which concerned the acquisition of biological materials and not the nature of the project itself. Laws could be enacted or interpreted with the result of curtailing bioartistic manipulation of nature, despite First Amendment protections of expressive speech, if doing so is considered necessary to protect “compelling governmental interests.” However, there would have to be sufficient social and political will to do so. That social and political will to protect nature, including animals and the environment, cannot originate in law because law, first and foremost, protects those interested in exploiting nature. Exploitation of nature is so deeply entrenched in law that legal reform can, at this point, only follow and complement societal change in the direction of respecting and protecting nature.
(http://www.springerlink.com/content/l61228r2823v4vr4/)

A transgenic animal is one that carries a foreign gene that has been deliberately inserted into its genome. The foreign gene is constructed using recombinant DNA methodology. In addition to a structural gene, the DNA usually includes other sequences to enable it

to be incorporated into the DNA of the host and
to be expressed correctly by the cells of the host.

Transgenic sheep and goats have been produced that express foreign proteins in their milk.
Transgenic chickens are now able to synthesize human proteins in the "white" of the eggs.

This is an image I found (MOUSEEAR) As you can see, it's a mouse and an ear. Creepy.
This is also "transgenic" in nature. Could be considered art?

Dead Heads by Polly Morgan

2009-10-21T06:11:00.000-07:00

Dead Heads

This piece is done by a taxidermist where she explores leaving the animals in a life like pose. Dead heads is the term to describe the cutting of flowers so it has a weird element of contradiction of horror and beauty to it.

Via Link

Jana Sterbak

2009-10-21T04:41:00.000-07:00

We have discussed the use of food in BIOART. Jennifer helped me discover JANA STERBAK a Canadian multidisciplinary artist. Shown below is some of her work deals directly with food.

JANA STERBAK: Vanitas: Flesh dress for an Albino Anorectic
The dress was stitched together from 60 pounds of raw flank stea k and must be constructed anew each time it is shown. Following a centuries-old method of food preservation, the meat is heavily salted and allowed to air-dry. Over the span of the exhibition, the aging process drastically changes the appearance of the work.

This is called Bread Bed; 1996 by Jana Sterbak.

Cake stool: Jana Sterbak.

This one is called Chair Apollinaire by Jana Sterbak.

Check out her personal website with all of her work.
http://www.janasterbak.com/index.html

"A Rose For Mars"

2009-10-20T13:41:00.001-07:00

This piece is called the "Martian Rose Project" by Laura Cinti and Howard Boland. This piece had a rose put inside a vacuum which exposed the rose into climate and radiation, etc. that would represent Mars. It eventually lost its color and collapsed.

via link

MY FIRST POST!!!!

2009-10-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

While doing some research during the break... I came across these guys and their stuff is really amazing.
I love the irony of the title of victimless leather ..considering they had to use lamb blood (i believe) to keep the cells alive.

via link

Ron Mueck

2009-10-14T06:24:00.000-07:00

Today in the Windsor Star, there was an article which my mom described as, "gross...looks so real". So I ran over and seen this article with an installation done by Ron Mueck. I told my mom, "hey look, that's BIOART". She just smiled.
The scanned copy of the newspaper turned out really bad, my apologies. Here are some other images of Ron's work.

Here is a video, also that I found showing a bit about his artwork and what he does.

2009-10-13T19:15:00.000-07:00

Check out the timelapse video I made for the Inside/Outside Ecologies performance. Sorry it took a long time to post, I've been busy.

:)

Old School BioArt

2009-10-10T19:41:00.000-07:00

A little history of the Biological Sciences and how closely it represents subjects the same way Visual Arts does. Click to Proceed.

2009-10-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Micro Pig anyone?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6267381/Micro-pigs-with-a-hefty-price-tag.html

Bioponics

2009-10-07T06:20:00.000-07:00

Looked up 'art and hydroponics' in google and came across this blog:
http://thegreenhorns.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/art-and-hydroponics/

Crosby Hill, an artist, demonstrates how to build and explain the functionality of a Hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique System. It was an installation...mmm interesting!

Hydroponic Nutrient Film Technique System:
The nutrient film technique or NFT is a tried and tested hydroponics system. Though old, this method is still very popular for indoor horticulturists. The reason for its popularity is that the method is relatively inexpensive and very easy to set up. NFTs are very popular amongst the lettuce farmers of New Zealand and Australia. This system is well suited for tomatoes and herbs.

Plants are grown above a nutrient tank reservoir. This system works by having a nutrient solution being constantly pumped using a submersible pump from the tank to the plant.. The nutrients flow via a tube or tray over the roots of the plant, what ever is not absorbed is then returned to the tank. There is no additional growing medium apart from the basic medium that is used to grow the plant from its seed. The two most common mediums are blocks of rock wool and pots of perlite. The flow of nutrients is usually a very slow stream that trickles through the medium and the roots of the plant is only submerged in one to three millimeter of solution. It is the slow flow of nutrients combined with the depth that ensure that no damage occurs to the fragile root systems.

The advantage of using a NFT system is that it has a low start up cost and is very easy to use. Since no additional growing medium is required, the cost of constant replacement is non existent. However the plant is dependant on the functioning of the pump and will dry up easily if the pump fails to pump its nutrients. Care should be taken to ensure that there are no blockages.

(http://hydroasis.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/nutrient-film-technique-nft-for-hydroponics-system/)

Small Space Gardening:
How To Set Up An Hydroponic Garden

HERE WATCH THIS VIDEO HOW TO NUTRIENT FILM HYDROPONICS!!!!!!

Hydroponics 'R' Us

2009-10-06T18:33:00.001-07:00

Today we ventured into the wonderful land of possibilities called Hydroponics. We discovered that plant based life doesn't always necessarily require soil as a medium to grow and can actually be grown successfully in absence of it. Here is some of the documentation available from today. Photo credits courtesy of myself (Mike Ngo), Tokio Webster, Kirsten Unrau as well as Dr. Jennifer Willet. Photos not in any particular order, as we don't believe in order.

BACTERIA & YEAST microscopy

2009-10-05T11:17:00.000-07:00

2009-10-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Speaking of our buddy- Gunther Von Hagen- Here he is, just another day at work.

BODY WORKS YAY!

FrankenFood - GMO Safety

2009-10-01T12:06:00.001-07:00

Canada, you may or may not know, is one of the countries leading the way into the future of genetically modified food. GMO labeling on our food, however, is not legally required (as it is in places like Europe for instance). The argument for no labeling is that GMO's are safe for human consumption, offer all the regular benefits of un-modified food and that labeling will mislead the public into thinking the product. Are you sitting down?... turns out these food products aren't as safe as GMO and biotech corporations would like us to believe. Regardless of said dangers these issues, according to projectcensored.org, were the 11th most under reported or censored news stories by national and international media outlets. Until now....

http://www.projectcensored.org/top-stories/articles/11-dangers-of-genetically-modified-food-confirmed/

VivoArts School for Transgenic Aesthetics (Parts I & II)

2009-10-01T06:19:00.000-07:00

I found this blog post at "We Make Money Not Art" very interesting and I think it direclty correlates with many ideas we've gone through already. Oh and Adam Zaretsky is mentioned in it as well. Check it out.

Part I
Part II

buy a genius baby.

2009-09-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

came across this and thought it was interesting.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/5078800.stm

InsideOut: Laboratory Ecologies 2009 part 2

2009-09-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit: Mike Ngo.

InsideOut: Laboratory Ecologies 2009

2009-09-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Photo Credit: Mike Ngo.

BIOART: Intro Lecture Notes.

2009-09-29T09:35:00.000-07:00

BioArt: (contested term)

genetic art - transgenic art - biotech art - vivo arts - live art - life art - ecological art - land art - eco art - and by some definitions performance art and body art.

...is an emerging field of contemporary art production where the artistic media is life/living systems.

…is an emerging field of contemporary art production utilizing the tools of the biological sciences in the production of artworks.

…is an emerging field of contemporary art exploring the perimeters of life in the production of art.

_______________________

Bio Art isn’t just a hybrid; it’s also a proliferating mutant term. Biology’s ascent to the status of “hottest” physical science has been accompanied by, on the one hand, the inflationary use of biological metaphors in the scholarly disciplines that study culture; on the other, a wide range of biotech procedures are simultaneously providing artists with the themes for their work as well as the expressive media with which to realize them. As this has transpired, the evolution of the term “Bio Art” has somewhat resembled the recent hyperbolic career path of the gene-hype launched by techno-industrial special interest groups in the 1990s that, in the wake of its zenith in conjunction with the media frenzy surrounding the Human Genome Project, has been slowly subsiding in the last few years. BioArt has not unfolded and developed in accordance with prescribed master codes of a determinant post-avant-garde manifesto; instead, it has been subject to a process of social drift and divers aesthetic influences from its environment.

Jens Hauser

_______________________

from my perspective… BioArt is political.

_______________________

… we need to think about breaking out of the disciplinary ghettos in which as intellectuals we have been confined, to reopen the blocked social processes ceding objective representation (hence power) of the world to a small coterie of experts and their clients, to consider that the audience for literacy is not a closed circle of three thousand professional critics but the community of human beings living in society, and to regard social reality in a secular rather than a mystical mode, despite all the protestations about realism and objectivity.

Edward Said

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BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences
TOPICS:

Interdisciplinarity - Overspecialization

Democratization of Biotechnology

Technologies of the Body

Laboratory Ecologies

Sliding Scales of Life

Critical Participatory Methodologies

Intersection of Art with Science

Roles for Art in Contemporary Society

_______________________

Artists Discussed:

Leonardo da Vinci
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn
Jack Burman
Edward Steichen
Joseph Beuys
Orlan
Stelarc
Dr. Gunter von Hagens
George Gessert
Eduardo Kac
Joe Davis
Tissue Culture & Art Project - Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr
Adam Zaretsky
Julia Reodica
Phil Ross
Marta De Menzies
Paul Vanouse
Critical Art Ensemble

BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences | COURSE OUTLINE

2009-09-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

THE UNIVERSITY OF WINDSOR

FALL 2009

27-390 Studies in the Visual Arts

Tuesday and Thursday 4:00 - 6:50

Office Hours: TBA

BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences

Jennifer Willet

Class Website:

http://bioartwindsor.blogspot.com/

www.jenniferwillet.com

jwillet@uwindsor.ca

George Gessert

No previous experience in the Biological Sciences is necessary for successful completion of the class.

Students will be expected to complete weekly readings, participate in class discussions and lab workshops, and produce individual and collaborative artworks and critical written texts.

Additionally, each student will participate in a final class project in collaboration with artist/instructor Jennifer Willet. Each class will include a 30 min meeting in preparation for the final installation/performance.

Evaluation:

20% Class Participation:

Students will be expected to attend ALL classes, and actively participate in class discussions and workshops. Class participation will also include the student's participation in the class collaborative project. Additionally, each student will be expected to make a minimum of two posts to the class blog. This can be in the form of critical discussion, images, announcements, poetry, web links, etc.

10% Reading Presentation/Discussion:

What are the central themes of the reading?

How does this relate to questions of bioart raised in the class?

What arguments within the reading do you agree/disagree with?

40% Individual or Collaborative Bioart Project:

30% Individual Research Paper:

Each student will develop an individual research paper exploring questions of bioart from critical, historical, ethical, and aesthetic perspectives. Theoretical sources can be drawn from class readings and the class bibliography – however, students are also encouraged to draw upon communication theory, media criticism, literary criticism, notions of post modernity and the post-human, gender theory and post-colonial theory from outside sources. Final papers should be approximately ten pages long, with a one-page bibliography.

Proposed Field Trips: (currently under negotiation)

Harrow Research Station: Gene Bank

University of Windsor: Medical School Anatomy Lab

University of Windsor: Biological Sciences

Time Line:

Note: As this class is designed as a collaborative workshop, and the first bioart class held at the University of Windsor, much of the class schedule will be determined by the group as the class progresses. However, the deadlines presented in this syllabus are firm, and provide the student with a clear structure – to assist in engaging in an otherwise fluid or ‘experimental’ course.

Thursday Sept 10:
Course Outline (Willet away)
Watch: InsideOut : Laboratory Ecologies video.

Tuesday Sept 15:
Lecture: Introduction to BioArt: Contemporary Art and the Life Sciences
Discussion: Richard Lewontin, "A Science as Social Action" from Biology as Ideology the Doctrine of DNA. Anansi Press: Concord. 1991 pp 81-97

Thursday Sept 17: Lab: Bacteria Cultures | Yeast Cultures
Discussion: Claire Pentecost, “Outfitting the Laboratory of the Symbolic: Toward a Critical Inventory of Bioart” from Tactical Biopolitics: Art, Activism, and Technoscience. Cambridge: MIT Press. 2008. pp 107-123.

Tuesday Sept 22: Group Work: Prepare for InsideOut: Laboratory Ecologies (build a lab!)

Wednesday Sept 23: Special Project: InsideOut: Laboratory Ecologies
(all day: book appointments)

Thursday Sept 24: Group Word: Take down InsideOut: Laboratory Ecologies
Discussion: Group discussion of results of performance/installation

Tuesday Sept 29: Lecture: Historical intersections between Art and Science
(or Anatomy Lab?)
Discussion: reading from Anker, Suzanne, and Dorothy Nelkin. The Molecular Gaze. New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2004. TBA.

Thursday Oct 01: Lab: Anatomical Drawing
(or Historical intersections between Art and Science lecture0

Tuesday Oct 06: Discussion: Gessert, George. “Notes sur l’art de la selection végétale” in L'art biotech’., Jens Hauser, ed. (Nantes, France : Le Lieu Unique, 2003), p. 47 Catalogue from the exhibition L'art biotech’ (authors’ english version).
Lab: Plant Tissue Culture

Thursday Oct 08: Lab: Plant Tissue Culture

NO CLASSES

Tuesday Oct 20: Discussion: Critical Art Ensemble, "Introduction Contestational Biology" from The Molecular Invasion. Autonomedia: Brooklyn, NY 2002. pp 3-12 Available Online: http://www.critical-art.net/books/molecular/index.html

Critical Art Ensemble, "Transgenic Production and Cultural Resistance: A Seven-Point Plan" from The Molecular Invasion. Autonomedia: Brooklyn, NY 2002. pp 59-75 Available Online: http://www.critical-art.net/books/molecular/index.html

Thursday Oct 22: Lab: GFP Bacteria Transformation

Tuesday Oct 27: Individual Research Paper Due
Lab: GFP Bacteria Transformation

Thursday Oct 29: Visiting Artist Paul Vanouse
Lab: DNA Gel Electrophoresis

Tuesday Nov 03: Lab: Mammalian Tissue Culture

Thursday Nov 05: Lab: Mammalian Tissue Culture

Tuesday Nov 10: Lab: Mammalian Tissue Culture

Thursday Nov 12: (Willet away.)

Tuesday Nov 17: Field Trip?

Thursday Nov 19: Field Trip?

Tuesday Nov 24: Studio Work Class.

Thursday Nov 26: Bioart Projects Due

Tuesday Dec 01: Visiting Artist Adam Zaretsky
Lab: Mutagenic DNA Extraction Lab.
Discussion: Zaretsky, Adam. "The Mutagenic Arts" in CIAC's Electronic Magazine no. 23,
2005. Available online: URL: http://www.ciac.ca/magazine/archives/no_23/en/dossier.htm [date of last access: 09/01/2006]

Thursday Dec 03: Group Work: Final Group Project

Tuesday Dec 08: Group Work: Final Group Project