At the Arts Electronica presentation, Professor Vesna introduced us to Arts Electronica Festival and the various project submissions people submitted to the festival. Arts Electronica Festival is an annual festival where scientists and artists get together to showcase their works.
One of the first works that we looked as was the adaptive clothing project. This group created clothing that was "alive." At a first glance, it was difficult to see how there would be technology embedded in the clothing. But that was what made this project so amazing: the fact that the technology was so seamlessly embedded. The technology portion was microscopic. The fabric consisted of bacteria that would open when people started sweating, thus making the clothing more "breathable." This project helped expand my view on biotech + art working together. Seeing that the examples given in class were mainly of genetically mutated organism (flowers, rats), I didn't think of how biotech could be used to alter inanimate objects people deal with in their everyday lives. This type of technology would definitely be benefitting, especially to those who are suffering from producing too much sweat. This incorporation between inanimate and animate objects made me realize there are so many potential to change objects that people use everyday in a way that will be more adaptable to humans.
One controversial project that we looked at was the hybrid family project. In this project, the person basically treated their dog like a human baby. The person fed the dog breast milk and basically the boundary between dog and humans became almost non-existent. I thought this project tied pretty closely to the biotech lecture as well. In the biotech lecture, it discussed how the animals were used to test potential cures for human diseases. In one article I read, it talked about how the pig-human hybrid was successful. Although the incorporation between humans and animals in the hybrid family project does not get too deep like in the pig-human hybrid article, I think the same problem was present: what is the distinction between animals and humans? Should we treat animals the same way we treat humans? Do our laws apply to animals? The hybrid family project artist definitely touched upon a controversial topic
One work I found the most interesting was the creation of a rock sculpture with no adhesives! It had used just string and rocks.
The video below depicts the creation of the sculpture:
At first, I was skeptical and thought the rocks wouldn't hold up. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the string method did work. The biggest reason this project caught my eye was seeing the potential it had of becoming an eco-friendly way of building homes. However, thinking about it more, I think it may be a bit dangerous. During an earthquake, I would be skeptical and would think it would fall apart. Nevertheless, this project reminded me of a video I saw recently which showed a new way of construction that also did not use any type of adhesives:
This method also does not use any types of adhesives. They basically built the house like legos and bricks: fitting together the pieces. These types of work are encouraging to see as it shows how it is possible to create a 100% eco-friendly society. Yes, we're definitely a long way from it but seeing that it is possible is very encouraging.
I would recommend looking into Arts Electronica, or even just watching the intro video because it really helped expand my understanding of how art and science could be used to enhance people's everyday lives (adaptive clothing). It also exposed me to think about controversial topics (hybrid family) that I never believed was possible.
One of the first works that we looked as was the adaptive clothing project. This group created clothing that was "alive." At a first glance, it was difficult to see how there would be technology embedded in the clothing. But that was what made this project so amazing: the fact that the technology was so seamlessly embedded. The technology portion was microscopic. The fabric consisted of bacteria that would open when people started sweating, thus making the clothing more "breathable." This project helped expand my view on biotech + art working together. Seeing that the examples given in class were mainly of genetically mutated organism (flowers, rats), I didn't think of how biotech could be used to alter inanimate objects people deal with in their everyday lives. This type of technology would definitely be benefitting, especially to those who are suffering from producing too much sweat. This incorporation between inanimate and animate objects made me realize there are so many potential to change objects that people use everyday in a way that will be more adaptable to humans.
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| Example of biotech fabric |
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| Example of biotech clothing |
One work I found the most interesting was the creation of a rock sculpture with no adhesives! It had used just string and rocks.
 |
| Rock Sculpture |
 |
| Close up of the rock sculpture |
At first, I was skeptical and thought the rocks wouldn't hold up. Thus, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the string method did work. The biggest reason this project caught my eye was seeing the potential it had of becoming an eco-friendly way of building homes. However, thinking about it more, I think it may be a bit dangerous. During an earthquake, I would be skeptical and would think it would fall apart. Nevertheless, this project reminded me of a video I saw recently which showed a new way of construction that also did not use any type of adhesives:
This method also does not use any types of adhesives. They basically built the house like legos and bricks: fitting together the pieces. These types of work are encouraging to see as it shows how it is possible to create a 100% eco-friendly society. Yes, we're definitely a long way from it but seeing that it is possible is very encouraging.
I would recommend looking into Arts Electronica, or even just watching the intro video because it really helped expand my understanding of how art and science could be used to enhance people's everyday lives (adaptive clothing). It also exposed me to think about controversial topics (hybrid family) that I never believed was possible.
ArsElectronica. "2016 Ars Electronica Festival: RADICAL ATOMS and the Alchemists of Our Time / EN." YouTube. N.p., 25 Oct. 2016. Web. 17 May 2017.
List, Jenny. "Modern Wooden Houses With No Glue Or Nails." Hackaday. N.p., 18 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 May 2017.
McKnight, Jenna. "Robot Demonstrates Pioneering Technology by Building Structure from Rocks and String." Dezeen. N.p., 13 Oct. 2015. Web. 16 May 2017.
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