Biotinkering as Social Agenda (?)

DIYBIO + BIOART

Bachelor of Science and Arts (BSA) in Biological Sciences and Art

2013... Plants of the Future

how does an artist gain access to a laboratory?

What are the cultural, social, political, and philosophical implications of biotechnology?

Are the societal benefits of practicing Non-institutional Biology (DIYBIO/BIOART)?

Who gets access?

Biotinkering as Social Agenda (?)

DIYBIO + BIOART

DIYBio (Do-it-yourself Biology)

● a brand, a cultural movement, and online community.● The goal is to make biotechnology accessible and

“democratized” outside of academia and corporations.

The U.S. DIYbio code of Ethics was first drafted in July of 2011.

● Open Access

● Transparency

● Education

● Safety

● Environment

● Peaceful Purposes

● Tinkering

Promote citizen science and decentralized access to biotechnology.

Emphasize transparency through the sharing of ideas, knowledge and data.

Engage the public about biology and biotechnology, and their possibilities.

Adopt safe practices.

Respect the environment.

Biotechnology should only be used for peaceful purposes.

Tinkering with biology leads to insight; insight leads to innovation.

Synthetic Biology & iGEMPopularized the concept of standardizing biology

Computer Metaphor:

Manipulating organisms is analogous to writing a line of code

Syn-bio

Automation

Optimization

Design Interface

International Genetically Engineered Machines

Hacker Ethic

Knowledge should be free to access for the benefit of all people. deconstructing

the “black box”

“We the biopunks are dedicated to putting the tools of scientific investigation into the hands of anyone who wants them. We are building an infrastructure of methodology, of communication, of automation, and of publicly available knowledge.”

Biopunk Manifesto by Meredith Patterson

Public Amateurism | Claire Pentecost (artist) .

The word amateur stems from the Latin root “ama-” which means “to love”

The public amateur does not claim to be an expert, but makes the process of learning transparent for the general public.

EXPERT AMATEUR

Do you have to be classically trained (institutionalized) to work with biotechnology?

The connection???

DIYBio & Bioart

Critical Art Ensemble . Tactical Biotech

science for social resistance

Molecular Invasion (2002)

Molecular Invasion at the World Information Organization (WIO), Amsterdam

Mechanisms of alienationBarriers between the public and knowledgeCauses of the lay-expert gap

what are the...

???

1. Cult of the expertisethe notion that only a specialist should be qualified to understand and practice a given subject, in this case, biology/biotechnology

2. Mystification of the sciencesthe wonder of biology reaches the public/consumer market in the form of health, beauty, and anti-aging improvements, or promises of pharmaceutical cures and solving world hunger

-Claire Pentecost, Tactical Biopolitics

Demystify the sciences

[discussion type]

reveal ambiguities and contradictions in current

biotechnology

Open laboratorydoors

[hands-on type]

give citizens the tools of biology and teach them how to

use it

Perform Public

Amateurism[hands-on + discussion type]

#1 Learning in Public

#2 Bioterror & Bioerror

Bioterrorism Case against artist Steve Kurtz from 2004-08

FBI & DIYBio Outreach Workshop in 2012

Statistical study by The SynBio

Project in 2014

Media exaggerations & fear-mongering

#3 Fear of the Unknown

Glowing Plants Kickstarter raised almost ½ million dollars

Sparked controversy: ETC Group launched Kickstopper Campaign against Glowing Plants

Artist Adam Zaretskyemutagen.com

Workhorse Zoo (2002)

FIST.SAVE.MOP.BAIT (2014)

#4 Genocracy

personalgenomes.org

Stranger Visions by Heather Dewey-Hagborg (2013)

Latent Figure Protocol by Paul Vanouse (2006)

#5 Hybrid Practices

GFP Bunny by Eduardo Kac

Joe Davis (artist)

#6 Future Trajectories

democratization for who??????

Start-up/ neoliberalist

Community-driven/artistic + exploratory

Demystify the sciences

[discussion type]

reveal ambiguities and contradictions in current

biotechnology

Open laboratorydoors

[hands-on type]

give citizens the tools of biology and teach them how to

use it

Perform Public

Amateurism[hands-on + discussion type]

going back to this...

-Claire Pentecost, Tactical Biopolitics

“The bioart that I am interested in does not want to become propaganda-ware for the biotech industry. I make the assumption that it wants to address a kind of problem in the world where most people live.”

please visit…diysect.com !

thanks !