BioArt Workshop and Lecture by Marta de Menezes

We are excited to be hosting visiting artist Marta de Menezes from Portugal. She will give a hands-on, DIY BioArt workshop involving CRISPR (gene editing techniques) on March 20 & 21. 10am – 2pm.

Additionally, she will present a public lecture on her artwork on March 21 at 4pm in Hopkins Hall room 246.

Marta de Menezes is a Portuguese artist with a degree in Fine Arts by the University in Lisbon, a MS in History of Art and Visual Culture by the University of Oxford, and a PhD candidate at the University of Leiden. She has been exploring the intersection between Art and Biology, working in research laboratories demonstrating that new biological technologies can be used as new art medium. In 1999 de Menezes created her first biological artwork (Nature?) by modifying the wing patterns of live butterflies. Since then, she has used diverse biological techniques including functional MRI of the brain to create portraits where the mind can be visualised (Functional Portraits, 2002); fluorescent DNA probes to create micro-sculptures in human cell nuclei (nucleArt, 2002); sculptures made of proteins (Proteic Portrait, 2002-2007), DNA (Innercloud, 2003; The Family, 2004) or incorporating live neurons (Tree of Knowledge, 2005) or bacteria (Decon, 2007). Her work has been presented internationally in exhibitions, articles and lectures. She is currently the artistic director of Ectopia, an experimental art laboratory within a biological research institute – the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência – in Lisbon, and Director of Cultivamos Cultura in the South of Portugal. Website: martademenezes.com

Contemporary Art and Life Sciences Workshop – CRISPR Cas9 technology
The intersection of Art, Biology and the Environment offers unique opportunities to visual artists. This innovative workshop will allow non-specialists to acquire theoretical and practical skills in biological sciences and genetic manipulation techniques in connection to the visual arts. We will:

  • learn about current artistic practices that engage the life sciences, and will become familiar with artists that combine the two disciplines.
  • explore CRISPR-Cas9 method to manipulate yeast and/or bacteria in pursuit of the larger question “What is natural?” / “What are the implications and outcomes of the manipulation of life?”
  • engage in and critically examine all elements of the creative process in art and science, including ideation, experimentation, and communication.
  • develop new methodologies, lines of inquiry or strategies to inform, build upon or challenge the participants’ creative research and practice in art and/or science.
  • collaborative works that combine elements of art and science, and successfully link concept, intent, and form.

Limited enrollment. Please contact Amy Youngs youngs.6@osu.edu to indicate your interest in attending.

Please note: you’ll need to commit to both days: Monday March 20 & Tuesday March 21 10am – 2pm

These events are part of the Humanities & Arts Discovery Theme focused on Science and Technology Studies.