Transcript The Art-Science Collaboration Gary Cass, UWA

The Art-Science Collaboration.
Can These Two Different
Species Unite?
Gary Cass
Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences
SymbioticA
University of Western Australia
•Exploration from an artistic perspective of
scientific knowledge
•Science and Art both explain the world in ways
that are different, but can be complementary to
each other.
•Artists engage in wet biology practices in a
biological science department
SymbioticA Research
The Tissue Culture & Art Project
Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr
Semi-Living Food:
“Disembodied Cuisine”
The Pig Wings Project
MEART
Guy Ben-Ary, Phil Gamblin,
Iain Sweetmen & SymbioticA Group
The Semi Living Artist
How did I get involved?
The F.N.A.S student laboratories at
U.W.A deals with:
Science
Art
•Soil science
Spatial imagery
•Plant science
Tissue sculpture
•Microbiology
Pigment dyes
•Molecular biology
DNA musik
•Animal Science
Something funky
•We had the G.F.P.
Painting
How did I get involved?
'What do you consider to be the
benefits of art-science collaboration,
what are the pitfalls and how can we
avoid them?'
Dr Elizabeth Bullen
Centre for Studies in Literacy, Policy and Learning Cultures
University of South Australia
Benefits
•Artists can delve into areas of science that Scientists
no longer have the time to.
•Science can benefit from the higher profile that art,
through exhibitions, can give.
•The general public can get a better understanding of
science, through these exhibitions.
•Increase the scope and funding of laboratories and
add to the duties, skills and experiences of technicians.
•Raising the ethical issues and creating discussions.
Benefits to Gary
•Having something to share at Techtrain 2004
•Art of the Biotech Era Workshop, presented at
the Experimental Arts Foundation as part of the
Adelaide Festival 2004
•Bioart Workshop, to be presented in central
London March 2005
Pitfalls
•Will Artists recognise what they discover, or just
stumble on by?
•Do both comprehend the complexity of what they are
exhibiting?
•Should living organisms(tissue) be used as subjects of
visual pleasure?
•Ethical issues and over exaggerations eg. GFP bunny.
•Laboratory health and safety.
Laboratory Hazard
•With no formal training of laboratory safety, the
lab can be a dangerous place.
•Extra pressure and stress on already over
worked technicians.
•Teaching an artist even the basics in science
can be an ordeal and time consuming.
How can we achieve the meeting
of these two different beings?
We have to appreciate each others;
•Way of thinking
•Approach (lateral or logical)
•Expression
•Language
•Appearance
•Way of life (concept of time)
Gary the Scientist,
Art Collaborations
•DNart
•DNA Musik
•Plant Tissue Culture Sculpture
•Fungal textile dyeing
•Living robots
•Art & Life Manipulation Unit 2004
DNart
André Brodyk
A jellyfish gene that expresses a green
fluorescent
protein
has
been
incorporated into the E. coli bacterial
genome. This fluorescent bacteria was
used as a drawing art media on an 'agar
canvas'.
Fungal Textile Dyeing
Donna Franklin
Extracted fungal pigments are used to dye
various materials as an natural colouring
process.
Living Robot
The Mother Project
Guy Ben-Ary, Gary Cass & Phil Gamblen
Mother demonstrates a symbiotic relationship
between biological and mechanical. The
cybernetic life form will cover its own body
with a biological substance.
Art & Life Manipulation
(252.249/252.349) 2004
A class of students from the Arts and Sciences
completed practical sessions including DNA
extraction, genetic transformation of bacteria and
plant & animal tissue culture.
“My sincere thanks must go to the unit’s fantastic teachers and whoever it
was that enabled such an interesting and contemporary topic to be an
accredited field of study at U.W.A.”
“bioart is at the cutting edge of art theory and production, and part of a
revolutionary period of scientific and aesthetic exploration. that uwa
(traditionally cautious and conservative) has elected to support this
avant-garde is an encouraging sign for the future direction of
the university.
“The combination of artists
and scientists can be
dangerous, but also has a
potential to be very
powerful”.