| Bio
Art Seminar - Art 895 |
|
|
|
|
|
"There
is no question as to whether there will be undesired outcomes; my
interest is in whether we will be able to love them"
Š
Patricia Piccanini, In Another Life exhibition catalogue,
Wellington City Gallery, Wellington, NZ 2006
Bio Art describes
the variety of artforms that use as their medium and/or inspiration,
biotechnology, genetics, ecology, plants, animals and other lifeforms,
be they living, semi-living or artificial. The historical background
and current trends, as well as the social, political and ethical
issues brought up by artwork created in this field will be explored
in readings, lectures, discussions and student presentations.
Students will be evaluated
on participation in class discussions (50% of grade) and on
presentations of actual artwork engaging this field, or
a well-researched proposal with drawings/models and visual references
(50% of grade). Discussions
will be based on the lectures and weekly readings and will be stimulated
by students' written questions or statements
related to each reading. The presentations will be 15-20 minutes
and will be scheduled during the last 3 weeks of classes.
Class Meeting Time: Wednesdays
6:30 - 8:18pm Place: Haskett Hall, room 408
Instructor, Amy
Youngs, Associate Professor of Art, Art & Technology
Required Book: Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, ed. Eduardo Kac, (MIT Press,
2007) Š It should be available at the bookstore. Interesting review
of this book in Mute Magazine |
| Schedule
overview |
| DATE |
TOPIC
and READINGS |
WEEK
1
- Jan 9 |
Introduction
to course and each other. Overview of Bio Art concepts, exhibitions and
artists. Notes
|
WEEK
2
- Jan 16 |
Manipulation
of living things
Readings to do before class:
Art that Looks You in the Eye: Hybrids, Clones,
Mutants, Synthetics and Transgenics, by
Eduardo Kac, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, (read pp. 1 -14)
Why I Breed Plants, by George
Gessert, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 185 -197
OneTree, by Natalie Jeremijenko, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 301 - 302
|
WEEK
3
- Jan 23 |
Political
and ethical dimensions
Readings to do before class:
Chapter 2 Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and
Knowledge, by
Vandana Shiva, South End Press, 1997
Leonardo's
choice: the ethics of artists working with genetic technologies,
by Carol Gigliotti
The Relative Velocity Inscription Device, by
Paul Vanouse, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp.277 - 283
[optional: Amateurity and Biotechnology, by
Natalie Jeremijenko, download PDF from Biotech
Hobbiest]
[optional: Liberating Life from Itself: Bioethics
and Aesthetics of Animality,
by Dominique Lestel, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 151 - 160
|
WEEK
4
- Jan 30 |
Art
inspired by biology, living systems and artificial life
Ken Rinaldo will
do a guest lecture today about his living systems-inspired artwork
Readings/watchings to do before class:
Technology
Recapitulates Phylogeny: Artificial Life Art, by Ken Rinaldo
Online video of Theo Jansen: The
art of creating creatures
NOVA video
segment on Artificial Life
[optional: Life Art, by Louis Bec,
in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 83 - 92
|
WEEK
5
- Feb 6 |
Art
and ecology
Readings to do before class:
Ecovention,
Current Art to Transform Ecologies, (Introduction) by Sue Spaid.
A New Front, by Suzi Gablik
The Art of Unnatural Selection, by Brandon Ballengee,
in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 303 - 307
[optional video viewing: William McDonough:
The wisdom of designing Cradle to Cradle]
|
WEEK
6
- Feb 13 |
Biological
materials in the gallery
Readings to do before
class:
Edward Steichen's 1936 Exhibition of Delphinium
Blooms, by Ronald J. Gedrim, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, ed. Eduardo Kac. pp. 347 -369
Blood and Bioethics in teh Biotechnology Age, by Dorothy Nelkin in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, ed. Eduardo Kac. pp. 115 -
123
Student
presentations begin |
WEEK
7
- Feb 20 |
No
class! - I'll see you at the College Art Association Conference in
Dallas. I'll be on the panel "Greenmedia Futures: Combining
Art and Technology to Promote Sustainability" Organized by Tiffany
Holmes. Other panelists are: Beatriz da Costa, Michael Mandiberg,
Andrea Polli and Linda Weintraub |
WEEK
8
- Feb 27 |
Science/Art
collaborations and residencies
Readings to do before
class:
Chlorophyll Apparitions,
by Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey, in Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, pp. 199 -209
Student presentations |
WEEK
9
- Mar 5 |
Futures
hopes and fears
Optional reading
of the week:
The
Future of Science...Is Art? from Seed Magazine
Student presentations
Art and Tech Exhibition
set up day - The theme is Seed. If
you'd like to participate in this exhibition, all artwork must
be dropped off between 12:30 and 2:30pm in the
Haskett Hall Gallery. The arrangement of each piece in the show
will be determined by the instructors and installation crew at
2:30, so your work will not have a space in the show if it arrives
late. If hanging your work involves more than a typical screw
in the wall, you must return to hang your own work, between 3:00
pm and 6pm. Your work must be professionally presented.
You will be responsible for bringing what you will need for the
installation of your work; tools,
hardware, projectors, pedestals, DVD player etc. Reserve
equipment from Classroom Services far in advance to ensure availability.
You must also remove the work from the show on Friday, between
4 and 5pm.
Thursday -
Seed exhibition Opening Celebration from 5 - 9pm . Invite your friends/family! |
| This
schedule is subject to change - I'll keep you posted |
Bibliography
Eduardo Kac, ed. Signs
of Life: Bio Art and Beyond, MIT Press, 2007.
Dmitry Bulatov, Biomediale:
Contemporary Society And Genomic Culture, Kaliningrad 2004.
Sue Spaid, Ecovention,
Current Art to Transform Ecologies, Contemporary Arts Center, June
2002.
Oron Catts, ed. The
Aesthetics of Care? Nedlands, Australia: School of Anatomy and
Human Biology, University of Western Australia, 2002.
Oron Catts, Biofeel, BEAP
Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth, 2002, exhibition
catalogue published by the Curtain University of Technology, edited
by Paul Thomas
Vandana Shiva, Biopiracy:
The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge, South End Press, 1997.
George Gessert, "Notes on Genetic Art," Leonardo Vol 26,
No. 3 1993.
Steve Baker, The
Postmodern Animal, Reaktion Books, 2000
Sheilah Britton and Dan Collins, ed, The
Eighth Day: The Transgenic Art of Eduardo Kac, The Institute
for Studies in the Arts, Arizona State University, 2003
Vilem Flusser, Curie's
Children, * First published in: Art Forum, October 1988, p. 9
Roy Ascott, ed. Engineering
Nature: Art & Consciousness in the Post-Biological Era, Intellect
Books, 2006
Suzanne Anker and Dorothy Nelkin, The
Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y:
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2004
Michael Pollan, Botany
of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World. New York: Random
House, 2001
Catherine Chalmers, American
Cockroach, Aperature 2005
James Serpell, In
the Company of Animals: a Study of Human-Animal Relationships, Cambridge University Press 1996
William Cronon, ed. Uncommon
Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature. New York and London:
W.W. Norton & Co., 1996
Ernst Haeckel, Art
Forms in Nature, Dover Publications; Rev Ed edition 1974, originally
published in 1904 - that version is in the public domain and online
here
More: Art
and Genetics Bibliography, Compiled by George Gessert
|
Related Blogs
Organism:
making art with living systems
New
Genics
Next Nature
We
Make Money Not Art
New
Scientist Headlines
|
Exhibitions and
Conferences
Art
Biologic, Hudson, NY, May 3-24, 2008 - APPLY
TO THIS ONE! submissions due Feb 29
Biological
Imperative, Newark, NJ June 14 - July 26 2008 Š APPLY
TO THIS ONE! submissions due april 15
sk-interfaces, Liverpool,
UK - February 1 - March 31 2008
Transgenesis, Czech Republic 2007
Bios 4, Spain, 2006 Report in English
BioArt and Public Sphere Conference, 2005
ART
et BIOTECHNOLOGIES, Conference and book, Montreal, Canada 2005
Becoming
Animal, Mass MOCA, Massachusetts 2005
Biennale
of Electronic Arts, Perth, Australia 2004
BioFeel
at the Biennale of Electronic Arts, Perth, Australia 2002
Paradise
Now: Picturing the Genetic Revolution, New York, 2000
Next
Sex, Ars
Electronica, Linz, Austria 2000
LifeScience, Ars
Electronica, Linz, Austria 1999
|
| |
| Amy
Youngs | Art & Technology | Department
of Art | The Ohio State University |