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Ick: what is bioart? An overview of the biological projects of the
Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) and review of the relationship of
biological art practices to more traditional scientific and bioethics
research. This discussion will focus on the larger value of bio art to
the research community and the politics of knowledge that surrounds
these practices focusing on the risk posed to the entire research
community with the potential indictment tomorrow of Steve Kutze and
colleagues. Francis Fukyama, will be discussant.
Dr. Fukuyama is a member of the President’s Council on Bioethics, and
author of Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology
Revolution. There is an blog for any questions or issues one who would like to
raise questions. This is hosted as part of an National Science
Foundation NSF sponsored event for training science graduate students
in science and society. See :
xdesign.nyu.edu/biotechhobbyist/CAEGrandJury If you are in Washington please join us Tuesday June15th:
We will do a goose event to review and discuss the hearing. Press
release follows.
Contact: Natalie Jeremijenko, UCSD
njeremijenko@ucsd.edu FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Birds protest criminalization of dissent under PATRIOT Act Robotic and biological birds join together for sunset cocktail hour at
7pm, June 15 on the Tidal Basin across from the Jefferson Memorial in
Washington, DC.to review grand jury hearing. Robotic and biological birds will jointly host a formal cocktail hour
on the Tidal Basin across from the Jefferson Memorial in Washington
D.C. Guests will include PhD science students from Arizona State
University, participating in a science and society seminar sponsored by
the National Science Foundation’s IGERT Program, faculty from ASU and
University of California, San Diego, as well select waterfowl. The
event will demonstrate an animal-human interface design featuring
interspecies communication devices in the form of robotic geese, which
will be released into the tidal basin to confer with their organic
brethren. June 15 Grand Jury The event coincides with the grand jury hearing for artist Steve Kurtz,
who along with eight other artists and academics faces unknown charges
for possessing common biological research material . In the words of
the PATRIOT Act are illegal if the are not used in “bona fide research,
or other peaceful purpose”. Kurtz was using the biological agents in
question for his “Frankenfoods” project, in which he tested common food
products to determine whether they contained genetically modified
organisms. The goal of the project was to draw attention to the
ubiquity of GMOs throughout the food chain and to encourage concerned
citizens to participate in a democratic dialogue assessing the risks
and health concerns which arise when a largely untested technology is
ingested by the majority of the population. As of press time, Kurtz, founding member of the Critical Art Ensemble,
Adele Henderson, Chair of the Art Department at UB; Andrew Johnson,
Professor of Art at UB; Paul Vanouse, Professor of Art at UB; Beatriz
da Costa, Professor of Art at UCI and member of the CAE; Steven Barnes,
FSU and CAE member; and Dorian Burr and Beverly Schlee, also of the
Critical Art Ensemble, have been issued subpoenas to appear before a
grand jury on Tuesday June 15 in the Wilderness Adventure for the Palette The ducks, herons and geese are hosting this event with a selection of
delicious hors d’oeurves. The food served is from a menu designed to be
nutritious and delicious to both humans and birds. A wilderness
adventure for the human palette, we cannot guarantee the absence of
gmos, but this food encourages sharing and reminds us that we are
codependent on the same ecosystems. It is their hope that this
communal meal will draw attention to what both humans and animals stand
to lose when our federal government criminalizes and intimdates
concerned artists and scientists, and academics. |
juryBlog |