Home
Politics
Business
Legal
Sci/Tech
Development
NGO Watch
Potpourri
Search Options
 
GMO art
Posted: Friday, June 26, 2009 2:41 pm
Email Print
There are some who consider Eduardo Kac's GM rabbit, which glows green under ultraviolet light, to be a work of art. But that's not the only glowing GMO art out there. There are at least two other projects which use glowing GM organisms as a medium of artistic expression, but they use microbes.

At the heart of this artistic medium is the genetic construct coding for Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), which was used for the development of the green version of Glofish, but is far more popular in laboratories as a method for determining which of an organism's genes are "turned on" under various circumstances.

The aim of the bio.display project is to
create a dynamic display made of genetically modified fluorescent bacteria. The installation, though consisting of millions of living organisms, would act as display, a screen - something we're used to see from machines.

The first step in this project is less ambitious: a mechanism that enables a user to create an image using genetically modified fluorescent bacteria. The installation allows the participant to enter an image, for which he will receieve a plate of bacteria, that develops this image overnight. A replica of the chemical process of photography done by millions of living creatures in a small plate.
That's the one-plate version. GFPixel takes a different approach, using multiple Petri dishes.
GFPixel is a "painting" made of genetically transformed bacteria. The organisms are cultivated in about 4000 Petri-dishes that are arranged as a portrait. Like on digital screens part of the bacteria produce the green light - the Green Fluorescent Protein-gene is switched ON and in the other part the GFP-gene is switched OFF.

The works plays with the border between living world and the digital world, the portrait seems to be digital but it lives and dies during the exhibition.
This sort of art is designed to be seen, rather than read about, and you can see samples at the links given above.
Share: 
 

 

Copyright © and Trademark ™ GMObelus, Bondware, 2007, 2008,  All Rights Reserved except as otherwise specified.
Copyright Statement | Privacy Statement | Terms of Service
 
GMO (noun) 1. An acronym for the term, 'Genetically Modified Organism'. 2. A plant, animal or microbe with a genetic code which has been intentionally altered, such as through forced evolution (see selective breeding); through random mutations induced with radiation or chemicals (see mutagenesis); or through the selective transfer, promoting or silencing of specific genes (see genetic engineering). 3. Most generally, any descendant of a primordial urbiote. (See evolution.)

obelus (noun) A dagger-shaped typographical symbol [ † ] which directs a reader's attention to important matters. From the Greek, obelus, literally, a roasting skewer.

GMObelus (noun, proper) A publication directing the attention of readers to the latest news and commentary regarding the development and use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture and related fields.

peer (noun) 1. One of two or more computers sending data to each other over the same network. 2. One of two or more persons sharing information with each other over such a network. (See also, 'remote peer'.)

peer review (noun phrase)  A process by which peers review information shared over a network, rather than each other. (Compare, argumentum ad hominem.)

Editor in Chief: Andrew Apel 
Expect More from Bondware's Website Design Tools
Email Marketing & Web Design  |  eCommerce, HOA, Publishing, Non-Profit, Intranet, Real Estate & Association Websites