organism

On Saturday, March 7th from 2-5pm, CRITTER will be presenting Clone-Home, an afternoon open house for multiplying plants. Come with a few cuttings of your favorite plant(s) to share and trade with others. If you’re new to the world of cutting and growing, come ready to start your own little plantlets with a variety of cloning methods that will be demonstrated throughout the afternoon. No experience or green-thumb required.

This free event will feature Denise King from the Exploratorium, Philip Ross and other growers from plant societies and local businesses. Clone-Home will host a wide spectrum of plant cloning, ranging from simple do-it-yourself methods to more complex recipes for making many from one. Denise will be coordinating the construction of a “succulent quilt”, which will be made from donated plants and put on permanent display in the neighborhood. Learn how to start your own succulent quilt! Clone-Hone will be accompanied by the live music from Mary Clare Brztwa, who will be creating specialized flute techniques to clone by.http://www.maryclarebrzytwa.com/

Enjoy some fresh herbal tea, mingle with fellow plant fans, and learn how to make your own home a little bit greener with your new buddies.

http://crittersalon.blogspot.com/2009/03/clone-home.html

Radars & Fences II: Tactical Bioart in the Age of Biotechnology

Event Time
Thursday, March 5, 2009
4:30 PM - 8:30 PM

Location
Information Law Institute
40, Washington Square South
Room VH218

Description
Radars & Fences II features five researchers and artists who have been at the forefront of the battle for the democratization of the life sciences over the last decade: Beatriz da Costa, Natalie Jeremijenko, Richard Pell, Claire Pentecost, and Paul Vanouse will present their own work and discuss with the public models of interdisciplinary engagement at the beginning of the “biological century.”

http://www.nyu.edu/media.culture/events/event.html?e_id=1336

Corpus Extremus (LIFE+)
February 28 – April 18, 2009
Exit Art, New York City

Corpus Extremus (LIFE+), the second exhibition of Exit Art’s Curatorial Incubator Program, will present work by artists who are using bio- and media- technologies to investigate questions of life and death. Representative of a relatively new international trend, these artists are uniting science and art to challenge conventional understanding of both fields.

Prior to the eighteenth century, art and science were not separated as distinct disciplines, and were often joined. Thus a hybrid bio-art discipline is nothing radically new. Yet, the work in Corpus Extremus (LIFE+) represents a revolution in interdisciplinary research and practices and offers a critical evaluation of science and technology through art. This direct involvement of artists in scientific research and lab practices aims to demystify science through a cross-disciplinary approach; to provoke discussion about art and science as creative stimuli to each other; and to pose ethical questions to society.

The artworks in this exhibition deal with the transformation of our notions of life and death due to the implementation of biotechnological advances in everyday life. Recent innovations in science and technology are causing us to confront and challenge our conventional understanding of the body. Trying to reveal “the secret of life,” and to retain health, we are finding new ways to create living transplants and sustain life outside of the body. This possibility gives ground for the design of new organisms – hybrids, cyborgs and extended human bodies – that might be a new stage in an evolution with a questionable future.

http://www.exitart.org/site/pub/exhibition_programs/corpus_extremus/

Other Worlds
With Artist Philip Ross and Dr. Kristina Yu in Person
A Biological Cinema Arts Program
Saturday, February 21, 2009, McBean Theater, 2pm

At Other Worlds, a biological cinema arts and musical event at the Exploratorium, artist Philip Ross and Dr. Kristina Yu present their videos of microorganisms accompanied by a live musical performance. This event takes place on Saturday, February 21 at 2pm in the McBean Theater, and is included in the price of admission to the Exploratorium.

The program includes Leviathans, by artist Philip Ross, which showcases the complex and mesmerizing patterns of the slime mold Physarum polycephalum. Like a harmonically rippling jellyfish, P. polycephalum propels itself along on the oscillating waves of its own body.

Parts, by Dr. Kristina Yu, Director of Living Systems at the Exploratorium, is a video compilation of microorganisms featuring embryonic stem cells and bioengineered C. elegans—glowing round worms—as well other beautifully rendered laboratory samples.

Multimedia artist Keith Evans will create an experimental sonic orchestration for both works as well as for additional projections of other invisibles.

Additional music and projections of microorganisms and other invisibles will be included.

http://press.exploratorium.edu/other-worlds-february-2009