ARTISTTALK » science

Maša Jazbec (si)

admin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:55:03 +0000

Maša Jazbec starts this talk with a short introduction of Artium Speculum Festival in Trbovlje. She the presents her last work, an interactive installation called “Monolith”(2012) . The public is the focal point of this work, as Monolith can reproduce a digital image of people approaching this installation. This work can be seen as a chance to discuss the importance of the digital world nowdays and the ripercussion of this in the analog world. The work stimulates a series of questions about the existence of the individual in the digital space, the importance of new media art and the relationship between techologies and humans.

This talk was recorded during Artist Talk: The Third Culture symposium, in november 2012.

Maria Joao Grade Godinho (UK)

neja — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 14:27:10 +0000

Science is a powerful enterprise in contemporary world. The influence of science in western culture is strong, with its developments shaping society and its language permeating social vernacular. Take as example the term mutation, which according to the Oxford English Dictionary comes from the Latin mutare meaning ‘to change’. It is frequently associated with the scientific notion of a structural change on a gene which results in an alteration to its form, potentially capable of causing disease or generating an aberration. Other scientific views of ‘mutations’ are less dramatic: in evolutionary studies they are understood as sources of variation, itself a fundamental characteristic of a population upon which selection can occur. These two scientific uses of the word ‘mutation’ illustrate the heterogeneity of science, with multiple disciplines engaged in their own research but simultaneously liaising and interacting in a complex web of relationships and intersecting practices. Mutations can be understood as being ‘boundary objects’. This is an analytical concept proposed by Star and Griesemer (1989), referring to abstract or concrete things “which are plastic enough to adapt to local needs and the constraints of the several parties employing them, yet robust enough to maintain a common identity across sites” (p.393). They act as common currency between different practitioners of science, allowing meaningful exchanges between them and thereby contributing to the making of science. I propose to extend the concept of boundary objects to include biological art work. The burgeoning field of biological art (Coakley, 2011), often brings together scientists and artists to create interdisciplinary works that go beyond iconography and are done utilizing biological materials, besides being inspired by biotechnological themes and developed using scientific techniques – it encompasses a variety of fields and methods, including “subverting the visualization technologies of molecular biology in ways not foreseen in the user’s manuals” (Hauser, 2005). The bio-artist can therefore be seen as a hacker. The artwork, with a different conceptualization from scientific work, appears like a mutation in the scientific landscape.

Methodology: The analytical view of biological art works as boundary objects is not inconsequential. For it requires an attempt at categorizing them not just as artistic but also as scientific objects, which involves seeking the meaning they elicit in both of these cultures (Jones and Galison, 1998). I focus my attention on their understanding as scientific objects. Historically these have been seen by philosophers and sociologists of science either as “discoveries, unexplored territory waiting to be mapped” by realists or as “inventions, forged in specific historical contexts and molded by local circumstances” by constructivists (Daston, 2000,p.3-4). As boundary objects biological artworks will have to convey new knowledge to science, to impart innovative ways of understanding the scientific landscape. As a consequence one accepts that they expand the horizons of science, that they induce a change – science becomes mutated and accordingly art emerges as a mutagenic force. The proposed task, of viewing artworks as boundary objects, is an exciting challenge and offers a fertile ground for imaginative explorations.

Suzanne Anker (US)

neja — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 15:38:49 +0000

Suzanne Anker, a visual artist and theorist working at the intersection of art and the biological sciences talks about what attracts her the most to this topic. Later on she mentions her recent collaboration with Sarah Franklin /an anthropologist and a head of the social sciences and sociology at the Cambridge university in Uk/ who she wrote the text with concerning with the theme of new reproductive technologies.

What you can kind of see in the 21st century is that the alterations in life and live forms are having profound effect on everything we are doing. So from the food we eat to the clothes we wear to the medicine we take to the art we make.

She talks about the projects she is currently working on and the other issues she is interested in such as molecular cuisine or the way in which the food science has now created multi sensual pleasure, as well as being able to transform the ordinary food into something what is much more tastier. As she is chairing Fine Arts Department of School of Visual Arts in NYC she talks about her students who are particularly interested in the issues of sustainability, relation between art and ecology and even the relationship between art and technology. She ends up with her vision of the 22nd century as a century of multi planetary kind of existence, what would be very exciting.

Maja Smerkar (SI)

neja — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 17:34:25 +0000

Maja Smerkar an independent intermedia artist based in Ljublana, Slovenia. She finished the studies on the Sculpture Department of Fine Art Academy in Ljubljana, but later on she started a research of space phenomenon, she went through scenography and performance mostly in theatre and merged to video and interactive video. However, during the last two years she has been developing projects within the field of bioart with focus on living organisms.

I was also thinking about possible reality of the future.

Within the biotechnological frame she talks about her most recent collaboration with slovenian molecular biologist, the project MaSm Metatransformation. By setting up the intersections of science, art and civil society poses the questions if there is a possibility, considering the consequences of potential global food deficit and drastic reduction of the value of material goods, that human molecular production capacity in the DNA, as one of the few uncolonized biotechnological materials, could become a trade tool, (based on a system of genetic credit), which could become one of the next stages of evolution. Lastly she talk about her latest research on more complex organisms, concretely about her fascination by the invasion of ladybugs during the last few months, which may have the catastrophic consequences for the ecosystem.

Daniel Schwarz (DE)

neja — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 14:31:05 +0000

Daniel Schwarz talks on the intersection of technology, art and sciences. At first, he describes his diploma master study called Settlement of humans, where he tried to find poetic visual metaphors for the scientific explanation of the world or even to make a knowledge architecture in 3d to communicate those theories, just like computer simulations or scientific movies. Then he continues to talk about computer games as he tries to explore them as a new medium to teach, as a learning environment later on. As an example he introduces the computer games about physics and geography which help the pupils to get the holistic view of whole earth.

Computer games are as complex as scientific simulations but they are used for entertainment purposes only.

Then he talks about the latest project exploring the energy system, which was initiated by the german government itself. As he works closely with the best scientists and energy experts in country, the result is a complex energy simulation in Germany which is scientifically correct masked as a game. However, this game gives young learners a powerment, it gives them the same scientific instruments that the decision makers have and lets them understand the complexity of the system.

Alessandro Ludovico (IT)

neja — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:28:40 +0000

Alessandro Ludovico was talking firstly about Neural magazine, an international magazine with subscribers from all around the world. He described its evolution from early nineties, changing the name from Cyber culture to Neural magazine and proudly said as they managed to survive at least two big phenomena (sudden rise of paper costs during the last nineties and the advent of network) and even find the way to evolve accordingly to network and network economy. Nowadays magazine tries to fuse three big areas- hacktivism, sound art (specifically interested into conceptual use of technologies) and new media art. However, he pointed out that Neural magazine is not the magazine with geek obsession for technologies, but it is more about social role, implications, consequences, answering the question how technologies can influence and change real life.

Neural magazine always tries to be an independent magazine from every perspective.

Later on he was talking about

current situation in art
expanding media artist to the science territories
how technologies becomes less interesting as they are used as daily tools
and consequently science becomes a territory where more innovative and radical processes can be enabled