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 ProjectOron Catts & Ionat ZurrSemi-Living Food: “Disembodied Cuisine”

MEARTGuy Ben-Ary, Phil Gamblin, Iain Sweetmen & SymbioticA GroupThe Semi Living Artist

The Pig Wings Project

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 ofthe university.

“The combination of artists and scientists can be

dangerous, but also has a potential to be very

powerful”.