<nettime> sentient creatures3: Bio Art at waag

[Sam Nemeth <sam {AT} waag.org>]

Joe Davis and Robert Zwijnenberg in Sentient Creatures

On the 29th of October the third Sentient Creatures series will start, 
organized by artist Graham Smith at the anatomical theatre of the waag 
building in Amsterdam. In this series, two guests will discuss current 
issues in the arts, techniology and science. The first evening is 
dedicated to Bio-Art, a new genre that combines art and genomics and 
will feature artist Joe Davis and professor Robert Zwijnenberg.

Sending data of vaginal contractions of ballerina’s into space, catching 
one-celled organisms with a (nano-) fishing-rod and a teremin that is 
triggered by light: a small selection of projects, initiated by Joe Davis.
Davis is also a permanent artist in residence at MIT and might best be 
described as the captain Jack Sparrow of the art world. With his DIY peg 
leg (Davis lost his leg during an alligator-attack when fishing with his 
brother) that occasionally doubles as bottle-opener and his vivid 
imagination, Davis engages in a variety of projects that all combine 
(high) technology with art in the most fascinating and unpredictable 
ways. He was among the first artists interested in combining art with 
genomics and worked intensively with the e-coli bacteria. Davis will 
show his recent endeavors and discuss his current role as the godfather 
of Bio-Art.
Also present on the 29th, professor Rob Zwijnenberg, who invited Davis 
for the first conference of the only Dutch Centre for Arts and Genomics 
in 2006. Mr. Zwijnenberg will address the question whether artists that 
permeate into or participate in the practice of the natural science (and 
the art that these artists produce) may be of relevance to the 
humanities. Does this new form of art provide the humanities an original 
and unexpected direct access to the life sciences, thus allowing 
scholars to participate in debates on these sciences from their own 
humanities perspective? What can the humanities learn from the results 
of completed and ongoing collaborative projects between artists and 
scientists? What do the humanities actually expect from these 
collaborations and why are they necessary?

Joe Davis is a permanent artist in residence at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology and has recently been asked to devise a monument 
for the victims of Katrina in Mississippi.

Robert Zwijnenberg is professor of history and theory of contemporary 
art in relation to the sciences and technology at Leiden University and 
Maastricht University. Zwijnenberg is director of The Arts and Genomics 
Centre (www.artsgenomics.org)

where: Anatomickal Theatre, waag building, nieuwmarkt 4, Amsterdam
when: 29th of October 2008, 8 pm - 10 pm
admission: free
stream: www.killertv.nl

KillerTV is supported by:
SNS Reaal Fonds, Interregeling, Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, 
Pauwhoffonds en MultimediaN


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