The final day of the SymbioticA Biotech-Art workshop began with a session about plant tissue culture and cloning with Dr. Tien Huynh from RMIT Applied Science. We were given tiny ‘daughter’ plants cloned from a Chinese orchid species and separated them in sterile conditions before planting them in individual sealed jars containing 6 different mixtures of growing media. The recipes consisted of varying quantities of charcoal, coconut milk, banana, sugar and other nutrients in an agar gel. These kinds of experiments are used to fine-tune the way plants are grown …

4 days into DNA extraction, spinal cord cell rescue, GFP transfer, and tissue culture for dummies, I still wonder what roles bioartists can play with respect to science and society? Somehow the image of the jester comes to my mind. A person on a court with powerful hierachies and strict rules that is the only one who lives outside of the hierachies and may break rules without fears of jobloss or being outlawed. While jesters have often been “natural fools” that were mentally and physically disabled persons, the “licensed fools”  were …

The first exercise of the day was a practical session in the art of tissue culture. This is where live tissue is grown from cells extracted from either plants or animals. The group was asked to bring in samples of animal tissue to use for this purpose. When animals are killed for human consumption the meat is kept chilled to keep it fresh. The concept of ‘freshness’ actually means that cells in the meat can still be alive. Marrow cells are particularly useful for tissue culture as they are sealed …

During this week we’ve been learning that many of the popular beliefs about DNA, how it works and how scientists work with it aren’t completely accurate. The familiarity we have with the idea of DNA and its association with identity has been formed in part by concepts such as ‘DNA fingerprinting’ which is used in forensics and mostly understood by the public via TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. In fact the science is far from simple and results can be misrepresented. We often hear of cases where mistakes …

Whilst the science of genetics has solved many puzzles about living things and how physical characteristics are passed from generation to generation, there are a great many mysteries still to be solved. As the “Ghost in Your Genes” video illustrates, there are epigenetic factors that influence how genes work, meaning DNA and genes aren’t the whole story of who we are. We are living at a time of  incredible knowledge but also a whole new multitude of mysteries. The capacity for scepticism, doubt and questioning is of paramount importance for …

Throughout the world, a growing number of artists and designers are investigating science and technology and its implications for society and the environment. Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr of SymbioticA are leaders in this field. Together they created the Tissue Culture and Art Project which is concerned with combining scientific knowledge with artistic practice and revealing “inconsistencies in regard to our current attitudes to life”.
Today Oron along with Greg Cozens join a diverse group (listed here) of artists, designers, architects and communicators at the RMIT Applied Science department’s Digital Wet …