bio feel catalogue

7/29/2019 Bio Feel Catalogue

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> S Y M B I O T I C A R E S E A R C H G R O U P

> M E A R T ( A K A F I S H & C H I P S )

> T H E T I S S U E C U L T U R E & A R T P R O J E C T

> P I G W I N G S

> T I S S U E C U L T U R E & A R T ( I F I C I A L ) W O M B S

> A D A M Z A R E T S K Y > M M M M

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BIOFEEL

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VERVIEW The opening of new possibilities and alternative futures

is at the core of the works presented in BioFeel. These arenot merely representations about concepts. Rather theyare tangible suggestions, employing new technologiesyet to be subverted. This exhibition was originallyconceived to present recent work created in SymbioticAby The Tissue Culture & Art Project and the SymbioticAResearch Group. These works have been shownelsewhere, but never in Perth and never as a collection.In addition, BioFeel seemed an ideal vehicle to presentthe results of Adam Zaretskys six-month residency inSymbioticA and to dbut his MMMMinstallation. Martade Menezes and Amy Youngs works were chosen to beincluded in this show as they each raise issuesconcerning the practices that are being explored in

SymbioticA. Marta is investigating the notion of the bio-medical lab as an artists studio. Amys Rearming theSpineless Opuntia deals with the responsibilities thatmight have to be exercised once living systems aredeliberately manipulated.

SymbioticA was established in April 2000 with one of itsmain premises being that it would actas a porous membrane in which artand bio-medical sciences and

technologies could mingle. This is an artist-runlaboratory within a biological science department.Artists are encouraged to employ biological techniquesas part of their practice.

The use of biological technologies is admittedly acontentious issue. These technologies are becoming amajor part of our lives, and predictions claim that thiswill have a profound effect on our relationships with allliving systems. The application of knowledge, acquiredthorough directed research in life sciences, seems to be

driven by forces that are interested in short term gainsfor the few, often neglecting long term risks. Theutilisation of knowledge gained as part of both basic andprofit driven research into living systems seems evenmore alarming in the light of the war clouds hovering

Statement

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above. In addition to the obvious threat ofbiological warfare, the apparent decline incompassion to the Other makes our timesperilous to make decisions about themanipulation and use of living systems.These decisions will determine the kinds ofrelationships we will form with the livingworld around us, be it a product of evolutionor of human intervention.

Developments in technology are actualisedpossibilities, not necessarily the only waysknowledge can be utilised. As biologicalresearch departments in universities areencouraged by governments to partner with

industry and defence, the need forresearch into non-utilitarian purposesbecome urgent. The exploration ofcontestable possibilities is important to theunderstanding of the ways technology maydevelop. By fostering artistic criticalengagements with biological research,SymbioticA provides a greenhouse fordeveloping alternatives to the commercialmainstream. The art here goes beyond thefantasy of the surrealist project. The artistsare dealing with the actual wet palette ofpossibilities of life manipulation offered bybiotechnology.

The aesthetically driven and confrontingtreatment of these tools by the artistscreates an uneasy feeling about the level ofmanipulation of fellow living beings humanshave reached. This uneasiness seems to stemfrom a cultural and ethical ambiguity in

regard to human engagement with lifesprocesses. Our values and belief systemsseem to be ill-prepared to deal with theconsequences of applied knowledge in thelife sciences.

The human-centric perception that guided

our conduct towards other living beings

since we started farming, did not diminish

even after our origins were revealed as yet

another branch of the evolutionary tree. Thefield of ethics still seems to be almost

absolutely denominated by human-centric

discourse, and things are not different in the

relatively new area of bioethics. This self-

obsessive trait might not be very useful as

species barriers collapse and as new living

entities appear. The level of manipulation of

living systems that biotechnology is starting

to provide is unprecedented in evolutionary

terms. The ways in which humans choose toexercise their technologies on the world

around them reflects on the ways they will

use it on each other.

All work presented here deals in one way or

another with the relationships we form with

manipulated living systems. The resolution

shifts from the protein through the

chromosome, the cell and the tissue, to the

whole organism. The accompanyingsymposium, The Aesthetics of Care?, will

focus on these issues from academic, legal,

ethical and artistic perspectives. It will

provide a forum for deliberating on the

artistic, social and scientific implications of

the use of biological/medical technologies

for artistic purposes. It will probe current

models of practices and explore new roles

and skills artists may acquire as they

venture into this new realm of operation.This Symposium will deal with the

relationships artists and audience form with

works of art that consist of living biological

systems.


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SymbioticAhttp://www.symbiotica.uwa.edu.au

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SYM

BIOTICA What is SymbioticA?

SymbioticA is a research laboratory dedicated to theexploration of scientific knowledge in general, and biologicaltechnologies in particular, from an artistic and humanisticperspective. It is located in The School of Anatomy & HumanBiology at The University of Western Australia. SymbioticA isthe first research laboratory of its kind, in that it enablesartists to engage in wet biology practices in a biologicalscience department. Developments in science andtechnology, in particular in the life sciences, are having aprofound effect on society, its values, belief systems andtreatment of individuals, groups and the environment. Theinteraction of art, science, industry and society is recognizedinternationally as an essential avenue for innovation andinvention, and as a way to explore, envision and critique

possible futures. Science and Art both attempt to explain theworld around us in ways that are profoundly different butwhich can be complementary to each other.

Artists can act as important catalysts for creative andinnovative processes and outcomes. They can also criticallyexamine the various assumptions, and sometimes selfdelusions, built in to the scientific method. There is a needfor artists and other professionals in the humanities toactively participate in research into possible and contestablefutures arising from these developments. While non-scientifically trained artists may have a limited ability toanalyse the detailed veracity of scientific work, outsidersworking in a different mental framework can bring bothinsights and distractions into the debates about themechanisms, ethics and philosophy behind scientific work.This can only be effective if those same artists engageactively in the science and the debate so that they haveenough understanding of the process and work to engagemeaningfully with it.

SymbioticA sets out to provide a situation where this canhappen, an opportunity in which interdisciplinary researchand other knowledge and concept generating activities cantake place. It provides an opportunity for researchers topursue curiosity-based explorations free of the demands andconstraints associated with the current culture of scientific

TheArtandSc

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anBiology

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ByStuartBunt

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foundersanddirectors

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research. SymbioticA also offers a newmeans of artistic inquiry, one in whichartists actively use the tools andtechnologies of science, not just tocomment about them, but also to exploretheir possibilities.

SymbioticA welcomes undergraduate andpostgraduate students from all disciplines,artists and scholars to work ininterdisciplinary research teams exploringnew directions for new technologies and theeffects on society that they might have. Itenables artists to access and explore a widerange of scientific materials and processes.

SymbioticA is designed as an evolving placeof artistic investigation that is accessible topeople throughout Western Australia andbeyond. SymbioticA aims to become aresource centre of investigation andresearch in the field of art and (mainlybiological) science collaborations. It is abase for both short and long-termresidencies. The first undergraduate courserun by SymbioticA has been a verychallenging and rewarding experience to allinvolved. Adam Zaretsky was the maindriving force behind this course, drawing onhis experiences teaching art and biology atSteven Wilsons Conceptual InformationArts Department at the San-Francisco StateUniversity. SymbioticAs Vivoarts courseincluded lab visits and practices, field daysto the zoo and breading farms, and manyethical discussions. Documentation of workproduced in this course will be presented as

part of Biofeel.

SymbioticAs Position in The University of

Western Australia.

The School of Anatomy and Human Biologyis quite unique in the scope and variety ofthe research interests of its staff. Thedepartment has a long tradition of workingwith artists. The departmental corridors are

lined with art works. Hans Arkveld, asculptor and painter, has been working withthe department for the last three decades,other artists have come and gone on an adhoc basis, but although many observed andgained inspiration there, none actually usedthe laboratories to produce their art work.

SymbioticA is now a research lab like anyother in the department, or is it? The tensionof the ambiguous position of SymbioticA inrelation to the academic disciplines isgenerating collaborations that have noother place to evolve. With SymbioticA,artists can now work in the different

laboratories in the department, such as themolecular biology, tissue culture,neuroscience, biomechanics laboratoriesand a biological imaging facility (IAAF).Artists will also have access to CTEC- thestate of the art training facility for surgeons,including The Hill International Surgical &Medical Workshops, and a VR haptics room.

SymbioticA is a non-for profit organization,and as such, it is free to explore differentmodes of operation. However in order tosurvive in the harsh reality of the marketeconomy environment it operates in, whilemaintaining its integrity and artisticfreedom, it has to adapt some of theprevailing rhetoric and practices. This inspite of maintaining a critical outlook andinsisting on a model of cooperation andcollaboration rather than one ofcompetition.

The West Australian Lotteries Commissionand The University of Western Australia(UWA) jointly funded the set up forSymbioticA. SymbioticA provides a uniquefacility for Western Australia and enhancesWestern Australias international positioningas a place that fosters innovations.


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The current status of the research into

Meart the semi living artist(AKA Fish & Chips) Stage 2.SymbioticA Research Group in collaboration with Steve

M Potter, Tom DeMarse and Alexander Shkolnik.

Meart is a bio-cybernetic research & development projectexploring aspects of creativity and artistry in the age of newbiological technologies. Meart is assembled from: Neuronsfrom embryonic rat cortex Wetware grown over MultiElectrode Array (MEA)1 , Software that interfaces betweenthe wetware and the Hardware the robotic (drawing) arm.In this paper we will discuss our goals, vision and the currentstate of research (Stage 2) into the development of a semi-living artistic entity.

The first public outcome of the project (Fish & Chips Stage1) was presented in the Ars Electronica Festival, Takeover,20012 . In this case we used the real time electrical activityof fish neurons (some cultured over silicon and pyrex chips)to control a robotic arm that produced visual art and a

sound piece. We closed the feedback loop by determining thefrequency of stimulation of the neurons according to themusic that was generated on the fly. The installationfeatured a laboratory/studio set-up, prototypes anddocumentation of the project, and was an example of theresearch being conducted in SymbioticA.

In BioFeelwe will present the outcomes of the second stageof the project. We decided to change its name as we will notbe using fish neurons and silicon chips rather neurons fromembryonic rat cortex grown over a Multi Electrode Array

(MEA). In this stage we are collaborating withDr. Steve M Potter, a neuroscientist from the Laboratory forNeuroengineering, Georgia Institute of Technology. Steveand his group are developing a new paradigm forneurobiology research, that will bring together top-down

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MEART the semi living artist (AKA Fish & Chips) Stage 2.http://www.fishandchips.uwa.edu.au


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Meartexplores our

abilities and intentions

in dealing with the

emergence of a new

class of beings (whose

production may lie for in

the future) that may be

sentient, creative and

unpredictable.


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(cognitive, behavioral, ethological) and bottom-up (cellular, molecular) approachesto studying the brain. He is applying different technologies

to study dissociated cultures of hundreds or thousandsof mammalian neurons. Furthermore he is developinga real-time feedback system for 2-waycommunication between a computer and a culturedneural network. In this installation we will record theelectric signals from a culture that will be set up forMeart, in Steves lab. The data received from theneural activity will be processed both in Atlanta &Perth to control in real time the robotic (drawing) arm.We will close the feedback loop by stimulating theneurons (64 electrodes) when various events in thegallery space occur. As no one has ever done thisbefore, we will treat this installation as an experiment

scientific as well as artistic. We will be interested tosee if any emergent or creative behavior occurs, ortrace any change in the pattern of behavior of theneurons that occurs as a result of the stimulations.

Meart explores our abilities and intentions in dealingwith the emergence of a new class of beings (whoseproduction may lie far in the future) that may besentient, creative and unpredictable. It isgrown/constructed to evolve and create visual artisticoutcome and by that means, to explore the notions ofcreativity and the nature of art. This hybrid is set toperform an open task, reveal its inner workings asdrawings. The assimilation of wetware (neurons) /software (digital components) / hardware (roboticarm), is intended to literally deconstruct creativityinto its basic elements while stimulating andmanipulating it through the different stages in orderto observe and explore what and how the artist will

react and what it will do. Meart takes the basiccomponents of the brain (isolated neurons) attaches them to a mechanical body

Mearttakes the basic

components of the

brain (isolated

neurons) attaches

them to a mechanical

body through the

mediation of a digital

processing engine to

attempt and create an

entity that will

seemingly evolve,

learn and become

conditioned to

express its growth

experiences through

art activity.


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... the MEA system (electro-physiological system) will record the electrical activitygenerated by the developing neuron and send sets of data indicating the locations

of neuron activity over the MEA to the robotic arm. This will be converted intomovement of the arm towards the corresponding areas of the canvas or the choice

of how many and which out of the 3 pens will draw in a certain point of time.


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through the mediation of a digitalprocessing engine to attempt and create an

entity that will seemingly evolve, learn andbecome conditioned to express its growthexperiences through art activity. Thecombined elements of unpredictability andtemperament with the ability to learn andadapt, create an artistic entity that is bothdependent, and independent, from itscreator and its creators intentions.

Meart (AKA Fish & Chips) in BioFeel

What are we going to do?

A series of experiments will be performed inorder to explore the relationships betweenthe input/stimulation to the neuronalculture and the output/drawings.For example, a web cam (set up in thegallery space) will capture portraits of someof the viewers within the gallery space. Thisimage will be then converted into a 64pixels image. This pixel structure willcorrespond to the 64 electrode array on

which the neurons are growing. This pixelmap will be used to stimulate the neurons.Each turned on pixel will initiate astimulation of the corresponding electrodeof the multi electrode array. The initiation ofthis process will be the beginning of thedrawing. The stimulation will be constantper one drawing session and will be sent tothe cultures in a predefined iteration.

Then the MEA system (electro-physiologicalsystem) will record the electrical activitygenerated by the developing neuron andsend sets of data indicating the locations ofneuron activity over the MEA to the roboticarm. This will be converted into movementof the arm towards the corresponding areasof the canvas or the choice of how manyand which out of the 3 pens will draw in acertain point of time.

Multi Electrode Array and the feedback

mechanism:The Potter lab at Georgia Tech3 is developingtools to study learning, memory, andinformation processing in networks ofcultured brain cells. These are obtained fromthe cortex of embryonic rats, and grown formonths in Petri dishes that have a multi-electrode array (MEA) of 64 microelectrodesembedded in them (Made by Multi-channelSystems). Through these electrodes, theycan send sensory inputs (electrical stimuli)

and read out responses (action potentials)to and from the cultured neural networks.The neural signals are used to control anartificial body, whether simulated on thecomputer or built of mechanical actuatorssuch as the robotic drawing arm of Meart.Sense data from the bodys sensors are usedto trigger stimulation of the network, viathe electrodes. By closing the loop, fromneural activity, to behavior, to sensing, to

stimulation, it is hoped that it will learnsomething about itself and its environment.The fact that the cultured networks aregrowing flat on a glass substrate allowsthem to be observed in minute detail. Thegoals are both to learn more about howbrains work, and to apply what is learned todesigning fundamentally different types ofartificial computing systems.

Data Processing

Discretely sampled information of theaction potentials exhibited by the culturedneurons will be sent via direct TCP/IP link tothe control interface of the drawing arm (anIBM clone PC). From this data a vector willbe calculated that represents therelationship between the current position ofthe drawing arm and the position on theculture plate of the highest neural activity.


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This vector will then be used to move thearm (via a parallel port interface controlling

16 pneumatic valves). Information on themovement of the arm (or any other visualenvironmental phenomenon) will beproduced by recording a digital video frameon the host computer. The frame (a 320 by240 32 bit JPEG image) will be reduced toan 8 by 8, 8 bit array which will be sentusing a direct TCP/IP link to the laboratoryat Georgia Tech and used to stimulate thecultured neurons. This mechanism differsgreatly from that used in Fish and Chipsphase 1 where multiple extra-cellularactions potentials were recorded with oneelectrode and this was continuouslysampled at 44khz. The resulting sampleddata was transferred into the frequencydomain using the standard Fast FourierTransform (FFT). The relative power of anumber of frequency bands was thenmeasured and, if higher than apredetermined threshold, were used to

generate control signals to the arminterface.

Output module (Robotic Arm):

The robotic drawing device receives theprocessed data from the computer softwareand translates it into movement. Thesoftware processes the input data andcontrols an array of valves in a binary waysignaling them to open or close. Thesevalves allow compressed air to flow into the

artificial muscles, which are pneumatic. Asthe muscles are inflated they contract withsufficient force to move three pens across

the surface of a paper. The muscles aremade out of two major components an

internal air bladder which causescontractions in an outer casing.

By creating a temporal artist that willperform art-producing activities Meartexplores questions concerning art andcreativity, and the relationships we will formwith constructed entities that express

creative and intuitive qualities. It sets out toexplore these themes while referring to theever-increasing pace of the evolution ofbiological technologies. How are we goingto interact with such cybernetic entitiesconsidering the fact that their emergentbehavior may be creative and

unpredictable? How will society treatnotions of artistry and creativity producedby semi-living entities?

Notes1. A substrate fitted with an array of 8x8 electrodes on which neurons are cultured. The multielectrode arrays are transparent,

therefore the neuronal morphology can be observed. The dish is connected to amplifiers and a computer that allowscontinuous stimulation of and recording from neurons lying on or near electrodes.

2. For more information about Takeover see http://www.aec.at/takeover

3. http://www.neuro.gatech.edu/potter.php

4. DeMarse et al., 2001


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WORRY DOLLShttp://www.tca.uwa.edu.au

In collaboration with SymbioticA (The Art and ScienceCollaborative Research Lab) at the School of Anatomyand Human Biology, University of Western Australia,and The Tissue Engineering and Organ FabricationLaboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital/HarvardMedical School.

The Tissue Culture and Art Project (initiated in 1996), is anon-going artistic research and development project intothe use of tissue culture and tissue engineering as amedium for artistic expression.The Tissue Culture & Art project (TC&A) utilizes biologicallyrelated technologies (mainly tissue culture and tissueengineering) as a new form for artistic expression to focusattention and challenge perceptions regarding the fact

that these technologies exist, are being utilized, and willhave a major effect on the future.What is Tissue Engineering:Tissue engineering is the creation (fabrication) of humanmade tissues or organs, known as neo-organs (1). It is aboutproducing body spare parts. Tissue engineering usuallyinvolves the construction of artificial degradablebiopolymer scaffolding in the desired shape, which is thenseeded with the appropriate cells and immersed in asolution rich with nutrients and growth factors inconditions that try to emulate the body (37C, 5% CO2).The system that provides these conditions is referred to asa bioreactor. With the advances in stem (embryonic) celltechnology, it is in essence an artificial womb, which isbeing used to grow us new organs/extensions/additions.Tissue engineering can offer an option of producing whatwe refer to as Semi-Living Objects. A tissue is a collectionof cells of an individual organism that specialize inperforming a specific task. When we combine this specialtywith other tissue (not necessarily from the same organism)and artificially constructed support mechanisms, we will

be able to grow task specific or general use tools. TheTC&A Project is interested in using tissue engineering andartificial wombs to grow sculptures.These sculptures are still in the realm of a symbolic gesturerepresenting a new class of object/being. These objects arepartly artificially constructed and partly grown/born. They

TheTissueCulture&ArtProject

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Doll A = stands for the worry from Absolute truths, and of the people

who think they hold them.

Doll B = represents the worry of Biotechnology, and the forces that

drive it. (see doll C)

Doll C = stands for Capitalism, Corporations

Doll D = stands for Demagogy, and possible Destruction.

Doll E = stands for Eugenics and the people who think that they are

superior enough to practice it.

Doll F = is the fear of Fear itself.

G= is not a doll as the Genes are present in all semi-living dolls.

Doll H = symbolizes our fear of Hope

Doll A Doll B


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consist of both synthetic materials and living biological matter from complex organisms.These entities (sculptures) blur the boundaries between what is born/manufactured,animate/inanimate and further challenge our perceptions and our relations toward ourbodies and constructed environment.

The concept of using Semi-Living Objects can be seen as a way to minimize the risksassociated with new technologies as well as a way to eliminate some of the problemsregarding the existing technologies and culture of consumerism. Changing the culture ofproduction from manufacturing to growing could reduce the environmental problems

associated with the process of manufacturing. The relationships that consumers will formwith these semi-living objects will be different from the relationships they have withinanimate objects. Tissue engineering offers a possibility to change our own design as wellas create a new breed of things: Presently, scientists are trying to mimic nature. However,how will we look when we decide to improve nature? Are we going to see fashion drivenneo-organs? Are we going to completely objectify living matter?

We feel that not enough attention is directed at proposing, examining and questioning thepossible futures where this new technology can take us.

Doll C

Doll D


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The Worry Dolls:We chose to grow modern versions of the legendary Guatemalan Worry Dolls in theartificial womb.

The Guatemalan Indians teach their children an old story. When you have worriesyou tell them to your dolls. At bedtime children are told to take one doll from thebox for each worry & share their worry with that doll. Overnight, the doll will solvetheir worries. Remember, since there are only six dolls per box, you are onlyallowed six worries per day. (2)

We decided to give birth to seven dolls, as we are not kids anymore. We may not be allowedto have more than six worries but we surely have. The genderless child like dolls representthe current stage of cultural limbo: a stage, that is characterized by child like innocence,and a mixture of wonder and fear when we create the new sex hence, a new era.

We gave them alphabetical names as we think that we can find a worry for each letter ofthe language that made us what we are now. While working on the Tissue Culture & ArtProject, people expressed to us their anxieties. These dolls represent some of them. You arewelcome to find new worries and new names You will be able to whisper your worries(not just in terms of biotechnology) to these dolls and hope that they will take theseworries away.

Doll E Doll F


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Doll H


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Doll A = stands for the worry fromAbsolute truths, and of thepeople who think they holdthem.

Doll B = represents the worry of

Biotechnology, and the forcesthat drive it. (see doll C)

Doll C = stands for Capitalism,Corporations

Doll D = stands for Demagogy, andpossible Destruction.

Doll E = stands for Eugenics and thepeople who think that they aresuperior enough to practice it.

Doll F = is the fear of Fear itself.G= is not a doll as the Genes are

present in all semi-living dolls.

Doll H = symbolizes our fear of Hope

Our worry dolls were hand crafted out ofdegradable polymers (PGA and P4HB) andsurgical sutures. The dolls were sterilizedand seeded with endothelial, muscle, andosteoblasts cells (skin, muscle and bone

tissue) that are grown over/into thepolymers. The polymers degrade as thetissue grows. As a result the dolls becomepartially alive!Will they take our worries away?

The process, in which the natural (tissue)takes over the constructed (polymers), isnot a precise one. New shapes and formsare created in each instance, depending onmany variants such as the type of cells, therhythm of the polymer degradation and theenvironment inside the artificial womb(bioreactor). It means that each dolltransformation cannot be fully predictedand it is unique to itself. We are still in the

realm of a dialogue with nature rather thana complete control over it. Our dolls are notclones but rather unique.

Notes:1. Tissue Engineering: The Challenges Ahead, by

Robert S. Langer and Joseph P. Vacanti, ScientificAmerican, April 1999, pp. 62-65.

2. Taken from the written note attached to the Worry Dollpackage.Worry Dolls were purchased from a comic shopin Boston, USA.


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Semi-Living Worry Dolls fixed inFormalin, 2000.


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PIG WINGS

OronCatts,

IonatZurrandGuyBenAry

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WINGS This project was developed as part of our residency at the

Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication Laboratory,

Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School

USA, and further developed in SymbioticA - The Art &

Science Collaborative Research Laboratory, School of

Anatomy & Human Biology, University of Western

Australia.

Advances in bio-medical technologies such as tissueengineering, xenotransplantation, and genomics promise torender the living body as a malleable mass. The rhetoricused by private and public developers as well as the mediahave created public anticipation for less than realisticoutcomes. The full effects of these powerful technologies onthe body and society have, in most cases, only superficiallydiscussed. Deciphering the human genetic code, and the

creation of genetically modified pigs for the purpose oftransplanting their organs into humans(xenotransplantation) opens up a space for the creation ofambiguous chimeras. The Pig Wings project was set toexplore this space. Winged bodies (both animal and human)have been used in most cultures and throughout history.Usually, the kind of wings represented the creature(chimeras) as either good/angelic (bird-wing) or evil/satanic(bat-wing). There is yet another solution to flight invertebrates which seems to be mostly free of cultural values

- that of the Pterosaurs. We have used tissue engineeringand stem cell technologies in order to grow pig bone tissuein the shape of these three sets of wings. The Pig Wingsinstallation presents the first ever wing shaped objectsgrown using living pig tissue, alongside the environment inwhich such endeavour can take place. We will attempt topresent living tissue engineered pig wings that will beanimated using living muscles. This absurd work presentssome serious ethical questions regarding a near futurewhere semi-living objects (objects which are partly aliveand partly constructed) exists and animal organs will be

transplanted into humans. What kind of relationships willwe form with such objects? How are we going to treatanimals with human DNA? How will we treat humans withanimal parts? What will happen when these technologiesare used for purposes other then strictly saving life?


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TheAestheticsofParts

ByIonatZurr&Oro

nCattsIt was her 16th birthday and she knew

that from today she would finally be able

to get a legal implant (most of her friends

had one already). She had been planning

that for a while. A Few months ago she

went to the Implants Farm and checked

the catalogue and the displays. She knew

immediately what she wanted: a pair of

decorative wings. Just like those of

hamster-bat she got for Christmas when

she was ten. The farms practitioner took

a biopsy from her inner-thigh and then

showed the scaffold design. Would I fly?

she asked. He laughed, Ho no, that will

require a complete redesign of your body

and even then you will only be able to

glide. These wings are designed to go with

the current fashion of backless dresses.

What about these feathered wings? she

inquired. I dont think your parents have

the budget he replied and, beside, they

will not grow with you, they are for adultsonly. It was a regular procedure and the

risk of contamination was reduced to less

than 3%. The farmer took her behind the

office, to the implants growth factory.

She looked through the glass window to

the sterile farm, where pigs with different

body parts seamlessly attached to them

lay in pools of clear liquids. He showed

her to her pig. She immediately liked

her pig. It was smooth and its skin

colour was just like hers. The farmer

explained that the pig carried human

genes to increase human-pig

compatibility. She trusted the pig to carry

and grow her wings till they would be

grafted back to her

(A story of an upper class girl, 2028).


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Deleuze and Guattari metaphor of becoming animal till there is no longer man or animalis becoming real with the advance in xenotransplantation, genetics, tissue technologiesand stem cells research. Artists dealing with hands on wet biology art practice areexploring the tangibility of such abstraction. As artists working for the last six years withliving tissues, we have come to realize the reality of a fragmented body and self. We havegrown and sustained alive for long periods (up to six months) communities of cellsindependently from their original host. We have grown them externally to a body as partof our ongoing research into growing semi-living sculptures . The above biological

technologies open up an array of body treatment, enhancement and modification. It

suggests contestable futures of cross-species and mergers that will profoundly questioncurrent held moral and belief systems. Organ transplantation is now a common procedurepracticed in the biomedical field. Organs are being harvested from either living or deaddonors in order to extend lives. This practice of extended bodies, like any other practice,operates within the socio-economic fabric, enabling the well off to receive more andbetter-conditioned organs, such as young healthy livers for affluent alcoholics. Organ trade

and organ theft are widely practiced around the world. Organs become commodities thatcan extend life as well as be used for body enhancement and modifications. The first caseof a hand transplant demonstrated the use of organ transplant techniques for proposesbeyond strictly saving life. The media reported that the recipient requested that the newhand be removed from him as He said it was like a dead mans hand with no feeling in it


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and he felt mentally detached from it , focused attention to the complex relationsbetween the self and the introduced extension. Different aspects of art expression havebeen dealing with the mix/fusion of identities, genders and classes between the selves ofthe donors organ and its recipient: A murderers heart implanted in its victims body andso forth. One human is becoming a hybrid of two humans. The shortage in human organshas encouraged a research into xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation is thetransplantation of cells, tissues or organs from non-humans. This procedure crosses aspecies barrier that has evolved over millions of years. Furthermore, the procedure involves

genetic manipulation and insertion of human genes into the animal (mainly pig) genome

for better compatibility. The human-animal cross, from a biomedical perspective, presentsnew procedures and new risks that can only be assessed in a perspective of a time scale ofmore than one-generation. Tricking the evolutionary mechanism by surgical and chemicalmeans to suppress the immune system in the organ recipient and introducing pathogensand viruses from another species may result in unrecognized and new virus infections andother clinical syndromes. Also, the cross infections among humans (and their offspring) is

unknown. Bach (1998) in his call for a moratorium on all human xenotransplantations,titles his commentary as individual benefit versus collective risk. Nevertheless, insertionof pig cells into humans is being done, such as insertion of pigs Porcine cells into brains ofpatients with neurological diseases. The human-animal physical cross is still facingbiological and ethical hurdles. Though its potential in terms of the becoming animal offers


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Pig Wings- the Aves Version2001-2002

Pig Wings- the Pterosaurs Version2001-2002

Pig Wings- the Chiropteran Version2001-2002


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a new dimension; a physical human-animalhybrid. Tissue engineering technologieshave been offered as another solution todeal with the shortage in body parts. Tissueengineering is a technique that offers theconstruction and growths of an organ in-vitro (outside of the body) using thepatients own cells, and the re-implementation of the organ back to therecipient. It is intriguing that the image ofthe subject/object who brought tissueengineering into the public psyche was themouse with the ear on its back. A nudemouse (a mouse with suppressed immunesystem) was used as a bioreactor, hence as

a vessel for the growth of an organ. Thescaffold of the ear was constructed out ofspecial biodegradable polymers and seeded,in vitro, with cartilage and skin cells fromthe earless patient. As the cells grewover/into the scaffold it degraded. In anearly stage during this process theconstruct was attached to the mouse,which acted as a nutrient supplier andtemperature regulator. The walking sniffingchimera scarred each human who wereexposed to it. One may suggest, that it hasbecome one of the most important icons ofthe late 20th century. A living icon of ourunlimited sculpting and designing abilitiesto create the creatures/monsters of ourimaginations and the possibility to sculptand design ourselves in these shapes. Stemcells are the current holy grail in thebiomedical field. Embryonic stem cells arecells before differentiation. Hence, these

cells have the ability to divide to any typeof tissue, when they are given the rightconditions and appropriate growth factors.The general idea behind this promise is theability to clone an identical twin withidentical DNA. This twin should notnecessarily develop into a whole humanbeing. It can become A Bag of organs withno central nervous system that will be therein case you need or desire an organ. Mytwin is a liver can become not only a figure

of speech. The combination of stem cellsand tissue engineering technologies can beappropriated not only for saving/extendinglife and/or the growth and construction oforgans in the original design. Thesetechnologies open up a gate to thetreatment of a living body as a malleableentity. One will be able to attach a tail, ahorn or any fashion driven shape of tissueto its own limited and less than perfectbody. In the socio-economic climate inwhich these technologies operate, we canspeculate on the large divide between thewell off and the less advantaged, as well asbetween the human species and the rest of

the animal kingdom. We can also speakabout the playfulness and decision makingbased purely on aesthetics and/or fashiondriven taste. As all of these technologieswill become more available in differentforms and different prices, the idea ofOrgan Farms (for replacement, modificationand enhancement) might become a reality.Body parts made out of different animalstissues might become objects of desire. Thetraditional view of a body as oneautonomous unchangeable self will gothrough a radical change. Body parts aredesigned, exchanged, replaced andsustained in a semi-living state as part ofthe environment. Animals are being used asa bioreactor for the growth of other parts.Naturally, as we suffer from speciesm, non-humans animals such as pigs will becomethe vessels for the growth of ears, nosesand other body decorations. Stem cells

technologies for the rich, pig farms for thepoor and the adventurous. ActualizingDeleuze and Guattaris becoming ananimal to physical actuality will severelychallenge current belief systems, which areunable to account for developments inbiological technologies. Are you willing totake this day trip to the farm?


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Between 1999-2001, Adam Zaretsky was

exploring the effects of music on bacterial

fermentation as an Artist and Research

Affiliate in Arnold Demains Laboratory for

Microbiology and Industrial Fermentation at

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. During

that time, Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr were also

in Boston. They were in the process of growing

their Pig Wings as as Research Fellows in Dr.

Vacantis Tissue Engineering and Organ

Fabrication Laboratory at Massachusetts

General Hospitals Harvard Medical School.

That we were in the same town living with

similar day-to-day tactics was pure

happenstance. As some of the few artists who

use biological laboratories as their studios, wedecided to collaborate by playing Pig Music to

Pig Wings.

To this end, we downloaded all the pig relatedMP3s from the soon to be illegal Napster. Bytyping in PIG as the keyword, our search

revealed a cross section of the etymologicalnuance symbolically connected to this family ofanimal. A few examples: War Pigs by BlackSabbath, Fascist Pig by Suicidal Tendencies, DaKilling of Da Pigsby Da Yoopers, Chokin this Pigby Eminem, Squeal Like a Pig by The ReverendHorton Heat, Filth Pigby Ministry, American Pigsby The Angry Samoans, British Pigs- The Price ofRoyaltyby One Life Choir, PigInCheezBy AphexTwin, Blue Christmasby Porky Pig and of course,Pigs on the Wingby Pink Floyd.

AdamZaretskyincollaborationwith

theTissueCulture&

ArtProject

DYNAMIC SEEDING MUSICAL BIOREACTOR

BIOFEEL>

ADAM

ZARETSKY

>DYNAMIC

SEEDING

MUSICALBIO

REACTOR

http://www.emutagen.com


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Once a week, over the next three weeks,we played Pig Music to Pig Wings atMass General Hospital. This allowed ustime during the week to relax and listento music with the steadily

differentiating bone precursor cells. Westarted with what we referred to as aDynamic Seeding Musical Bioreactor.Getting cells deep into constructs iscommon quest for many in the tissueengineering field. The constructs arevery porous and it was hypothesizedthat the irregular vibrations of themusic might assist in the distributionand physical embedding of the cells

into the construct. The VibroTransducers, generously donated byAcouve Laboratories, were intalled in a37 degree Celsius incubator. TheSynthecon Bioreactor vessels were thenstuck to these vibrating plate speakers.Inside the vessels were the wing shapedpolymer constructs (about 4mm thick)and a rich sample of Mesenchenal stemcells (each cell~ 15 thousandths of a millimeter in

diameter.) Pirate MP3s were played.Scientists, artists and stem cells tookmoments of repose together.Alteration of Sculptural Morphologywas noticed early on as the wingshaped biopolymers curled up like friedcorn chips after the first few songs. Notsurprisingly, the wings visibly dancedto the music both during the earlyseeding of the biopolymers and on their

following weekly exercise regiments.

Bouncing and twisting, stretching andjumping, the Pig Wings took flight.After the incubation period hadfinished, some of the MusicallyEntertained Pig Wings were sent to

histology to be compared to the PigWings whom had been MusicallyDeprived. Considerable differences incells count, tissue morphology anddistribution throughout the constructwere ascertained. Although ourapplication of music to growing tissuecultures was informal and non-repeatable, our observations and theresults of the histological comparison

lead us to postulate that Pig Music mayhave a curious effect when applied toPig Tissue in Vitro.

Scientific Perspective

By Kylie M SandyIn the Pig Wings project, mesenchymalcells (bone marrow cells) from pigs aregrown over bioabsorbable poylmers. Thescientific aspect of the project isengaging an artisitic medium, to

investigate both the movement of bonecells within the 3D scaffold of thepolymer, and the occurrence ofcalcification within the polymer. Futureresearch will include quantitative andqualitative accounts of the amount ofcalcification in the polymers, when theyare subjected to sound waves. Findingshave a potential application toorthopaedic science and tissue

engineering.


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In MMMM(Macro/Micro Music Massage), we, the public,are invited to join in the process of sonic performance forcells in culture. Please engage your living unfamiliar relatives.Here is your chance to massage various living tissues or

organisms without getting your hands dirty. We, as fleshyflasks of living culture, are also invited to become part of theexperiment by vocally vibrating each others rear ends at thesame time.Two ButtVibe lounge recliners are placed facing each other onopposite sides of the room. The chairs massage according tosound output miked from the vocalizations of the person inthe opposite chair. This can include voice andinstruments/noisemakers. The same signals are sent toneighboring vibrating plate speakers applied to variouslifeforms. The organisms will bounce, splash, stretch, bear

down and/or jump to attention in response to the audiosource. Please Feel Free to Sit Down and Talk to the LivingSpecimens!Video of reclining volunteers and their life-world mirrorsdancing on biopolymers is projected above and behind thevolunteers. This functions as a closed circuit and very localvibro-videophone for talking to various kinds of strangers. Wehave here a real time, multimedia, multi-species eroticcontinuum of sonic jostling. We also have the ability to recorda certifiable non-repeatable effect through bioassay of public

play. Please record any data you might have amassed duringyour research in the communal lab books provided.Public Knowledge Purpose: My personal favorite artisticoffering to public experience is the reinsertion of fun for funssake into the social. I know that sounds simple and nave. Itis. Vibrating chairs are titillating. The idea of helpingstrangers in public liven each others bodily experienceshamelessly in a temporary suspension of moral standards ismy call to duty. Its something to do while waiting for theAIDS vaccine. At the same time, the conjoining of themicrocosm and the human body, so often forgotten in the

workaday world, is emphasized. Simple assays could showalterity of cells due to vibration, which can be an effectivecomparative aid in analyzing human facial response patternsto mechanical tickling and vibro-erotism in general. Thissensual experience could abstract our importance as self-centered entities by focusing on bounce as a form of transientexistence. In other words this is art and tech lite, publichedonism and unashamedly so. Sit Down and Extrapolate!

MMM

M

AdamZaretrsky


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Philosophy of Science Purpose:If our research into the effects of sonic spectrum vibrationsare progressing so neatly, why then is the next stage of thisproject an interactive public event? MMMM is an artisticexperiment. No hard data is expected to arise. This in noway limits potential insights into the natural world that

might stem from MMMM... Most artistic products, if shakenwell, exude scientific data as a by-product. Unfortunately,there are often strong and contentious reactions to cross-disciplinary activities. It is almost as if breadth itself were akind of blight on the stability of taxonomy. If labels andclassifications are more than mythic, faith based logics ofthe day, then they shouldnt have such a phobic reaction thebirth of hybrid concepts and complex admixtures. With alittle grant money, this too can be reduced to itsfundaments. Tame All Anomalies!Artistic Purpose: I am a rather insular little maniac. Iknow how important it is that interactivity beinteractive and not some uni-dimensionalpoint/click act of avoidance. Dialogicalartworks are important diffusers of theunsporting voyeurism of which bothscientific objectivity and artistic appreciation are prone to.This bodily bi-directional communication is both remoteand deeply interpersonal. It shouldremind us of our corporeal fleshinessand, by proxy, our relation to all the

squiggly things that squiggle upon theearth. As a libertine in the days ofdeadly STDs, this is perhaps areflection of the traumas of libidinaleconomizing for personal survival. Thevibratory arts are highly underrateddue to fears of lost productivity.

VivaTactil

ity!


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AMY YOUNGShttp://www.accad.ohio-state.edu/~ayoungs

The plant inside this device is both interactive withpeople and protected from them. Its metal armor closesup when approached and opens when people moveaway from it. Through cloning and micropropagationtechnologies, humankind has engineered creations suchas the Spineless Opuntia, a cactus that lacks its originaldefense mechanism against those who eat them. Thissculpture embodies my impulse to protect thisvulnerable, human-engineered creation. But it also

reveals the folly of protection in its heavy reliance ontechnology.

Rearming the Spineless Opuntia 1999 (60"x30"x30") Live Spineless Opuntia cactus, electroniccomponents including ultrasonic sensors and microprocessor - motor, copper, steel, aluminum andrubber.

A

myYoungs

BIOFEEL

>

AM

Y

YOUNGS

>REARM

ING

THE

SPINELESS

OPUNTIA


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During the last thousands of years humankind has tried to

manipulate Nature. Todays dogs, cats, horses, and crops are

evidence of what has been achieved by artificial selection.

It is remarkable that the understanding of hereditarity and

evolution is so recent, when our ancestors were using it

empirically for so long. In 1953 the molecular basis of

hereditarity was disclosed as the structure of DNA was

revealed by Watson and Crick. In the last 50 years

significant scientific advances have been made, allowing

the modification of life in an extremely controlled way.

Biotechnology was born to explore these new tools for the

benefit of humankind.

However, the remarkable tools of modern biology are seenwith hope and fear, simultaneously. It is becoming possible todevelop new therapies for uncurable diseases, but at the sametime the public fears the misuse of this powerful technology.As a consequence, words like transgenic, genome, cloneandstem-cells have spread from scientific publications into themass media. As society becomes aware of biotechnology, withall its hopes and fears, artists have started to includereferences to biotechnology in their works.

Furthermore, biotechnology offers theopportunity to create art using biology as newmedia. We are witnessing the birth of a new

form of art: art created in test-tubes, inside laboratories.

My work has been focused on the possibilities that modernbiology and genetic research offer to artists. I have beentrying not only to portrait the recent advances of biologicalsciences, but to incorporate biological material as new media:DNA, proteins and cells offer an opportunity to explore novelways of representation and communication. Consequently,my recent artistic activity has been conducted in researchlaboratories.

Being an artist, with no formal training in biological sciences,I always have to start by learning the jargon and techniquesin use in the laboratory. With time I learn the possibilities andlimitations of the experimental systems available. At thatpoint I can start producing biological artwork.

Marta

deMenezes

BIOFE

EL

>

M

ARTA

DE

M

ENEZEES

>

PROTEIC

PORTRAIT

AND

NUCLEART

MARTA DE MENEZES


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NucleArt Two chromosomes inside a human cell. Stack of images.


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Proteic Portrait Study showing similarities between marta and claw8a, as well as predicted structures

of marta.


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NucleArt

In NucleArt I am using DNA labelled with

fluorochromes to paint the nuclei of livehuman cells. I want to explore therelationship between the object and theobserver. The artworks are live human cellspainted with DNA. However, in order to beadequately observed they have to be killed.Like in many scientific subjects, from theEisenbergs principles to anthropologicalstudies, frequently the observation disruptswhat is being observed.

Chromosomes are made of DNA, acomplementary double helix, and arelocalised in the nucleus of cells. Normalhuman cells have 46 chromosomes; femaleshave 23 represented twice, including two Xchromosomes, and males have 22represented twice plus an X and a Ychromosome. The position of chromosomesin the cell nucleus is determined in part bycertain rules. For example, somechromosomes tend to stay closer to theperiphery of the nucleus while others aremore commonly found towards the centre.With this information, it is already possibleto predict, to a certain extent, wherechromosomes should appear, and to paintthem accordingly. However, there are stillmany uncertainties concerning the positionof chromosomes in the cell nucleus. In fact,one of the topics being researched in AnaPombos laboratory, where the project is

being developed, is how different humanchromosomes interact with each other.

In the NucleArt project I explore newpossibilities by adapting cell biologytechniques to the production of art. Icombine the knowledge of the relativeposition of the chromosomes with thecapacity to use DNA to paint each one of

the chromosomes specifically. The techniqueis known as Fuorescence In-Situ

Hybridisation (or FISH) and can also be usedto visualise segments of chromosomes oreven single genes. Groups of chromosomescan equally be stained with the same colour.In this way, it is possible to create relativelycontrolled images where some or only onechromosome is painted with or withoutportions of it in other colours. The resultingartwork requires the use of a confocal laserscanning microscope in order to bevisualised.

All the images I have been creating areanalysed by scientists as they might provideclues for a better understanding of how thehuman nucleus is organised. In fact, one ofthe objectives of all my projects is thedemonstration that artists can work inresearch laboratories alongside scientists incollaborations leading to advances in bothart and science.

The artworks are exhibited using computerprojections in order to convey the three-dimensional structure of the humannucleous.

Functional Portraits

For years artists have been attempting toportrait not only someones appearance,but also how the person is. The personalityof the model can be conveyed by elements

of the pose, the setting and even thetechnique used by the artist.Science has developed powerful tools toimage the interior of the body. SinceRoentgens discovery of X-rays, one caneasily see what is hidden behind the skin.Today, new imaging technology allowsbetter visualisation of both biologicalmorphology and function.


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Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging(fMRI) of the brain permits directvisualisation of the brain regions that areactive in real time, while the subject isperforming a given task.

In this project I have been attempting tocreate Functional Portraits by imaging thebrain function of the model, whileperforming a task that characterises herselfor himself. I have been using fMRIequipment more powerful than the onesused for medical diagnosis in order toachieve better images. The first portraits Ihave been producing are Patricia with herbrain activity while playing the piano and aself-portrait with my own brain function

while drawing.

I am now planning, as a development ofFunctional Portraits, to paint the brain bymanipulating its activity. With theknowledge of the brain regions that areactivated by certain tasks or stimuli, it ispossible to design a number of simultaneoustasks and stimuli that will achieve acomplex brain activity pattern. In other

words, by planning a defined set of tasks itis possible to paint a defined pattern ofbrain activity. Although the artwork has ashort lifespan as long as the subject isperforming the tasks it is possible todocument it by means of fMRI. It is a casewhere it becomes possible to create art bysimple thought.

Proteic Portrait

Proteins are frequently as beautiful as

contemporary sculptures. To explore acomputer database of protein structuresusing software and hardware allowingthree-dimensional visualisation is likeexploring an art gallery.

I decided to take advantage of the visualopportunities offered by structural biologyin order to create a self-portrait usingproteins as art medium.Proteins are made of 20 different

aminoacids, each one can be represented byletter (one-letter code). As a consequence, itis possible to use that convention to designa protein whose aminoacid sequencecorresponds to a name. However, interestingthree-dimensional conformations are onlyseen when the protein is over a givenlength: very short peptides adopt linearstructures relatively uninteresting. As aconsequence, my professional name Martade Menezes would be too short for an

interesting conformation. However, asportuguese people tend to have very longfamily names I could design a protein withmy full name, the martaprotein:

MARTAISAVELRIVEIRDEMENESESDASILVA

GRACA

Using computer databases it is possible toconfirm that there is no known protein inNature with such aminoacid sequence. In

fact, it is even possible to identify thenatural proteins most similar proteins tomarta. Computer modelling also createsseveral possible conformations for marta,based on the structure of similar aminoacidsequences in known proteins. However, theexact conformation of marta, can only bedetermined experimentally by solving itsstructure using nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) or crystallography.The proteic portrait will only be finished

when the true structure of marta will beuncovered.

Acknowledgements

NucleArt is a collaboration with scientist A. Pombo, and helpful advise from S. Xie and S. Martin at theMRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College, London. Chip-Art has insights from C. Goodman andT. Magalhes at the University of California in Berkeley. Functional Portraits have been created with

assistance from P. Figueiredo at the University of Oxford.


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We live in our heads too much or at least we think we do.Post-Everything society asks us to disconnect with increasingfrequency and we listen, obediently losing ourselves inleisure, consumer and worker fantasies. At the fringes, radicalmovements like cyberpunk take up same call, transmuting itinto a notion of identity as a kind of software and envisioningthe societys literal disembodiment. New Age spirituality seemingly an entirely opposed worldview strongly continuesthe Gnostic desire to jettison the decay and inertia ofmaterial reality.

HEDKIKR is a free improvising duo. We make sound from aninteraction that is heavily weighted toward the physical andthe subconscious. It comes from the body, from under themind from outside. We like it out there.

Our work at SymbioticA has been literally to put thephysicality of our performance under the microscope. Thecloser technology permits us to look at the world, the harderit is to escape the idea that the time scale of the humanuniverse is too slow. Built on systems that are built on moresystems human perception is at the blunt end of the scale.From the scales pointy other end, our most minute actionsproliferate into a tidal wave of consequences. Our unificationof experience is a fabrication constructed out of a vertiginousarray of micro-universes.

Bacteria and viruses are where the action is.

We have developed a series of performances analogous to alaboratory culture with certain environmental conditionsand a prescribed duration. Each new performance retainssome form of audio or visual residue from the last, creatingits own micro-history.

Its Experimental music we hope to justify the capital E.

HEDKIKR:

DarrenM

ooreDrumsandLindsayVickerySaxes

BIOFEEL

>

HEDKIKR

>

INTER

XECTION


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BIOFEEL>SY

MBIOTICA

>

VIVOARTS

In first semester 2002 SymbioticA offered for the first time ahand on course in Art and Biology. Adam Zaretsky, a visitingresearch fellow in Symbiotic was the driving force behind thiscourse, drawing on his experience in running art and biologycourses and workshops in San- Francisco State University andThe School of The Art Institute of Chicago. Dubbed VivoArt,this course was delivered by Adam Zaretsky and Oron Cattsand involved both practical and theoretical sessions. Studentsreceived hands on experience in Molecular Biology (inserting

a gene from a jellyfish (GFP) into bacteria), Tissue Culture,Developmental Biology, and more. The course also extensivelycovered issues related to the ethics of using living systems forhuman centric ends with invited speakers from the zoo,animal research ethics, scientists and artists. Some of thestudents works is presented as part of BioFeel.SymbioticA ,University of Western Australia

VIVOARTS

ThisprojectisajointprojectbetweenSymbio

ticAandthe

S

choolofArchitectureandFin

eArts,U

WA.

AdamZaretsky&

OronCatts,

VivoArts student composition

Students: Donna Glasson, Margaret Heenan, Anisa Hirte, Barbara Kletnieks, Emily Green, Matt Marchment, Ruth Jeffery,

Gill Phillips, Zoe Saleeba. Kelly Scurr, Kelli Sharp, Catherine Traicos, Lauw Sauw Ting, Cynthia Verspaget, Carla Webster

Unaffiliated Synchronous Collaborators: Poppy van Oorde-Grainger, Tanja Visosevic


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Andr

Brodyk

B

IOFEEL

>

ANDRE

BRODYK

>

DNA

ART

The installation DeoxyriboNucleicArt is a work in progress. This workengages with the processes used in Recombinant DNA technologies as

new art marking processes and the use of living material as new artmedia. Creative interpretations and applications of recombinant DNAprocesses enable the encryption of extra biological material derived frominanimate and aesthetic sources for use as synthetic DNA. The inanimatesources used in this installation are fragments derived from biotechindustry company warehouses, laboratories and research facilities. Whensynthetic DNA is vectored into the genomes of living organisms such asEscherichia coli bacteria, it is incorporated into the genetic makeup ofthe organism. The loci of such genetic transformation can be seen as sitesof permeable aesthetic exchange, between innate and living material.Living entities comprised of encrypted extra biological material embodya new medium of in vivo art expression. Appreciation as well asapprehension of such permeable interrelationships between all things ata genetic level is made fecund by the experiences provided by such newart media and processes.

Acknowledgements:University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts University of Newcastle

SymbioticA ,University of Western Australia, Gary Cass

DNART

Professor Miranda Grounds,Dr Stuart Bunt, Directors ofSymbioticA, School ofAnatomy & Human Biology,University of WesternAustralia;

Graeme Jones & Brad Hopefrom Coherent Life Sciences.Cornelius Nienaber

Greg Cole -Scientific GlassBlower from the Departmentof Chemistry, UWA.

Artists, Marcus Canning andSohan Hayes for designingand constructing PC2(SymbioticA CentralLaboratory).Nguyen Ly, ImageAcquisition & Analysis

Facility, School of Anatomy

& Human Biology, Universityof Western Australia;Will Axton & Glenn Tweediefrom Profile DigitalAll of the good people in theSchool of Anatomy & humanBiology for their help andsupport.

Jane Coakley, SymbioticAs

Coordinator and Producer.

Dr. Joseph Vacanti,The Tissue Engineering &Organ FabricationLaboratory, MassachusettsGeneral Hospital, HarvardMedical School;Kylie Sandy and Dr StuartHodgetts, School of Anatomy& Human Biology, University

of Western Australia

Dr. David P. Martin, TEPHAInc. CambridgeMassachusetts;

Dr. Hidetomi Terai, Dr. DidierHannouche, Dr. Julie Fuchsand Alec Sevy, The TissueEngineering & OrganFabrication Laboratory,Massachusetts General

Hospital, Harvard MedicalSchool; Dr Frederic Gimenez,MIT BioengineeringDepartment;

Bec Dean, PICA

Julia Reodica, Artist &Laboratory Technician -Exploratorium San Francisco.

Peter Macintosh

BIOFEEL ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:


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Guy Ben Ary:Born in USA (1967), lived in Israeland Australia. Currently living andworking in WA. Manager of theImage Analysis and AcquisitionFacility (IAAF), School of Anatomy

and Human Biology, UWA.Specialising in light microscopy,biological and digital imaging.Member of the Tissue Culture &Art Project (joined in 1999). JoinedSymbioticA The Art & ScienceCollaborative Lab in April 2000.Trained in programming, webdevelopment & Law (LLB).

Andr Brodyk:Bio artist born in AdelaideAustraliaCurrently PhD candidate at the

College of Fine Arts University ofNew South Wales MFA from COFAUNSW Research interests centredon recombinant DNA technologiesand processes and the use of livingmaterial as new art processes andnew art media. Currentlyinvestigating the use of synthetic

DNA via art based encryptions.

Artist in residence at SymbioticAresearch laboratory UWA.Undertaken research inmicrobiology laboratory atUniversity of Newcastle. Australia.

Dr. Stuart Bunt:Co-founder of SymbioticA, the firstart and biology lab situated in ascience department. Haveconsulted and lectured on thenexus between Art/Science andTechnology, exhibited in ArsElectronica and collaborated or

helped produce a number ofbiotech art pieces revolving aroundemergent technologies in thebiosciences. Background in science(developmental neuroscience lab, DPhil in Natural Philosophy, Oxford),and the arts (Director/co-founderSymbioticA). Senator at theUniversity of Western Australia,chief executive biomedicalsoftware spin off company,Paradigm Diagnostics, and founderof the Image Acquisition andAnalysis Facility, UWA.

Marcus Canning:Marcus works and collaborateswith many different people inmany different ways. Mostrecently he has been busy bee as adesigner for the Shishka-Car

spectacle at the Adelaide Festival2002, and as creator of the videowork and inflatable set used inBuzz Dance Theatres Caveproduction, which has just touredto Korea. He curated the Now YouSee It window installationexhibition in Midland which is stillrunning, and started in April as theDirector of the Artrage Festival which kicks off in October.Previously he was Creative Directorof the Awesome Festivals regionalprogramme. The first pneumaticsoft sculptural work he undertookwas a balloon snake created incollaboration with all the kids inKalumburu the most remotecommunity in the Kimberley. Hehas an incessant and never-endingvideo opus which will one daycrawl gasping into the light of day.It is called Dough-Boy. It featuresa cosmic chef deity who floatsthrough space and has a smallwhite rat living in his mouth.

Oron Catts:Tissue engineering artist. Born inFinland, lived in Israel andAustralia. Co-Founder and ArtisticDirector of SymbioticA The Art &Science Collaborative ResearchLaboratory at The School ofAnatomy & Human Biology,University of Western Australia.Founder of the Tissue Culture andArt Project (1996). Research fellowat The Tissue Engineering & OrganFabrication Laboratory,Massachusetts General Hospital,

Harvard Medical School (2000-2001). Trained in product design,and specialized in the futureinteraction of design andbiological derived technologies.

Phil GamblenBorn in the UK in 1964. Migratedto Canada in 1966. Trained andworked as a gem cutter in the1980s. Re-settled in WA in 1991after two years of travel.Graduated from Claremont Schoolof Art in1996 and Curtin

University of Technology in 1998with an Honours Degree in FineArt, majoring in sculpture. Currentartworks utilize motion and lightto investigate technologicalaspects of todays culture, the

overlap of art and science and there-use of obsolete and discardedmaterials.

Sohan Hayes:Sohan completed a degree in FineArt at UWA, graduating 1997. Hisart practice spans a diverse arrayof mediums, some of them beingkinetic sculptures, performancework, video, installation, soundand CG character animation forCD-ROM games . In recent yearswith the Awesome Childrens

Festival regional program Sohanhas travelled to variouscommunities around WesternAustralia, working with youngpeople to create special events andartworks.

Tom DeMarseTom DeMarse is a postdoctoralresearcher in the BiomedicalEngineering Department atGeorgia Tech. His primary researchinterests include the study learningand memory invitro and invivo. He

has worked with Steve Potter forover two years on the AnimatProject whose goal is to create ahybrid animal using mult-electrodearray technology in which abiological brain that is culturedinvitro is interfaced and controls acomputer/robotic body.

Marta de MenezesMarta de Menezes is a Portugueseartist (b. Lisbon, 1975) with adegree in Fine Arts by theUniversity in Lisbon, and a MSt inHistory of Art and Visual Cultureby the University of Oxford. Inrecent years, she has beenexploring the interaction betweenArt and Biology, working inresearch laboratoriesdemonstrating that new biologicaltechnologies can be used as newart medium, and proving thatlaboratories can be art studios.Besides researching into new waysto create art, Marta de Menezes isalso an accomplished artist using

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traditional media, with paintingsfrequently representing insightsfrom scientific research.

Darren MoorePercussionist and a composer, born

in the UK in 1974. From 1981 livedin Perth after a familyimmigration. He studied music atthe WA conservatorium graduatingin 1997 with Bachelor of Music.Between 1998 - 2001, Darren lived& worked professionally as amusician in London. CurrentlyDarren leads local avant guard jazzgroup - Open Source Project aswell as performing in Hedkikerwith Lindsey Vickery.

Steve M. Potter

Steve M. Potter is the product ofan artistic mother and a scientificfather, who fostered bothcreativity and curiosity. As aresult, he is perhaps moreinterested in the aesthetics andpresentation of scientific datathan most scientists, eager tomake it interesting for the generalpublic. He got his undergraduatedegree in biochemistry at the Univ.of California, San Diego, and hisPhD in neurobiology at the Univ. ofCalifornia, Irvine. He worked as a

postdoctoral scientist 8 years atthe California Institute ofTechnology, developing tools tostudy living neuronal networks.He is now a professor ofBiomedical Engineering at GeorgiaInstitute of Technology in Atlanta.More info,http://www.neuro.gatech.edu/potter.php

Alexander C. ShkolnikAlexander C. Shkolnik is anundergraduate at Emory University,Atlanta, GA, graduating with a B.Sin neuroscience and behavioralbiology and a joint B.S / M.S incomputer science andmathematics. He is currentlyworking on his masters thesis as aresearch fellow in Steve Potter'slab. Interested in merging thefields of neuroscience andcomputer science, Alexander hopesto continue his academic career inArtificial Intelligence.

Ian SweetmanThrough an eclectic andundistinguished career IanSweetman is uniquely unqualifiedin, but has at one time or anotherearned a living from; photography,

bacteriology, pulmonaryphysiology, bass playing, recordproduction, sound engineering,neurobiologly, forensicanthropology, maths, appliedcomputer science, networkadministration,artificialintelligence, strange art projectsinvolving fish and robots and,tentatively, haptics . He still doesnot know what he wants to dowith his life, but if he ever getspaid what he thinks the worldowes him, travelling around theworld with a bicycle, a tent and acredit card is a strong possibility.

Lindsay VickeryComposer/performer Lindsay

Vickerys music includes works foracoustic and electronicinstruments in interactive,improvised or fully notatedsettings, ranging from solo piecesto opera and interactive video. Hehas been commissioned bynumerous groups and performed in

Holland, Poland, Norway, Germany,England, the Phillipines, the USAand across Australia. Lindsay hasbeen artist-in-residence at STEIM(NLD), HarvestWorks (NYC), LACMA(LA), the University of Illinois andthe MATA festival (NY). Vickery is alecturer at the WAAPA@ECU inPerth. He was a founder memberof Magnetic Pig, GRIT, HEDKIKRand LA-based multimedia groupSquint.www.magneticpig.iinet.net.au/lv/lv.html

Amy YoungsAmy M. Youngs exhibits mixed-media interactive sculpturesnationally and internationally.Reviews of her work appear in theChicago Reader and Artweek andher articles have been published inLeonardo and Nouvel Objet. Shehas lectured nationally, including,California State University, LongBeach and the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology. She wasawarded an Individual Artist

Fellowship Grant from the OhioArts Council in 2002. She receiveda full Merit Scholarship to study atThe School of the Art Institute ofChicago, where she completed herMFA in 1999. Youngs is currently

an Assistant Professor of Art atThe Ohio State University.

Adam ZaretskyOne of the worlds foremostMicroinjection Food ScienceResearchers, Zaretsky practicesgarage embryology, parasitologyand glossolalia as a perpetuallyrotating academic at theInternational University ofPataphysics.In 2002-2004 he will be teaching

VivoArts in Neil Rolnicks Electronic

Media, Arts, and Communicationdepartment at RensselaerPolytechnic Institute. The classfocuses on all of the living arts,including but not limited to:Environmental Art Installation,Radical Food Preparation,Performative Pet/Domestic AnimalRelations, Science FictionEnactment, Art and Science Co-Laboratory and Licentious BodyManipulation Arts.Rumor has it that Zaretsky met

with the illegitimate brother ofUS President George W. Bush,Osama bin Laden at a culturalsummit in the Cayman Islands,whereupon Osama stated:the axis of benevolence *is* softparasitology."Contact:[email protected]

Ionat Zurr:Wet Biology art practitioner. Bornin England, lived in Israel andAustralia. Artist in residence inSymbioticA The Art & Science

Collaborative Research Laboratoryat The School of Anatomy &Human Biology, University ofWestern Australia. Co-Founder ofthe Tissue Culture and Art Project.Research fellow at The TissueEngineering & Organ FabricationLaboratory, Massachusetts GeneralHospital, Harvard MedicalSchool(2000-2001) Studiedphotography and media studies,specializing in biological anddigital imaging, as well as videoproduction.


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