Life in the Age of Biotechnology was the central theme of the Multispecies Salon event held at Kawliga Studios in the St. Claude Arts District of New Orleans. Tangible feelings of anxiety and uncertainty filled the gallery as the local audience witnessed artworks that explored the implications of freeing laboratory laborers and letting the products of biotechnology run wild. Images purloined from biological laboratories were displayed alongside creatures that had been created by humans and were needy for care, whilst spectacular works of bioart illustrated how multiple species have been united in the production of common images, commodities, and forms of life.
Myrtle von Damitz and I curated the show at Kawliga Studios to explore the issues of contagion and interspecies care that have emerged in the age of biotechnology. Both Berrigan’s “The Life Cycle of a Common Weed” and High’s “Embracing Animal” dealt with how nurturing relationships between humans and non-humans can heal, as well as how contagion and illness occur when we are unable to live compatibly with other organisms. Myrtle and I showcased artwork that looked past the technological aspect of biotechnology and explored our perceptions of biotechnology, how we care for various organisms and how we mitigate contagion when we fail to negotiate working relationships with those organisms.
The work of Dana Sherwood and Mark Koven were particularly emblematic of how notions of anxiety and companion species care interact. “The Atlas of Architectural Abnormalities” by Dana Sherwood consists of watercolor and gouache alterations on antique architectural engravings. These depictions of buildings rotting explore effects of anxiety writ large. As a figure for subversive entities that corrupt a society, they illustrate how unsustainable practices become normalized within communities and an accepted part of the architecture.
“Projected Growth” by Mark Koven compares, examines and measures the phenomenon of swarming among microorganisms. It utilizes two types of bioluminescent microorganisms, a bacteria (Vibrio fischeri) and a fungus (Armillariella mellea), which are put in a range of combinations in inoculated petri dishes. Each dish becomes a test to see which type of scenario—numbers or growth—is most effective between fast and slow growing microorganisms. Where does the tipping point exist in such strategies?
See also: Life & Biotechnology
Further Reading
Kirksey, Eben et al. (2014) “Life in the Age of Biotechnology” in The Multispecies Salon, Durham: Duke University Press, pp. 180-220.
