We’re also delighted to bring Maker Faire visitors two hands-on bioart workshops, with artists Ellie Irons and Nikki Romanello.

If you are planning on coming out to the New York Hall of Science in Queens to check out the Faire, please stop by and say hello!

Before the party, join our panel discussion on “The State of Bioart Today.” Suzanne Anker, bioartist and chair of fine arts at The School of Visual Arts, and Nikki Romanello, bioartist and CPG contributor, will share the stage with the show’s curators.

The panel (and party) begins at 7 PM, Saturday, August 16. Genspace is located at 33 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn (Nevins/Dekalb stations).

A limited, numbered run of catalogues will be on sale at the party.

About the Panelists

Suzanne Anker is a visual artist and theorist working at the intersection of art and the biological sciences. Her work has been shown both nationally and internationally including the Walker Art Center, the Smithsonian Institute, the Phillips Collection, and P.S.1 Museum. Her books include The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age and Visual Culture and Bioscience. Chairing SVA’s Fine Arts Department in NYC since 2005, Ms. Anker continues to interweave traditional and experimental media in her department’s new digital initiative and the Nature and Technology BioArt Lab.

Nikki Romanello collects and observes plant and animal remains to familiarize herself with the function, texture, form, and the fragility of natural artifacts. She combines art and science with the intention of bringing science into culture. Her work has appeared in the New York Hall of Science, Rivington Design House, and Hot Wood Art Center, among others. Currently, she works as a TIG welder for Token NYC, and teaches at Brooklyn Brainery.

…a staging ground for future-shaping innovations. It’s an unforgettable day of interactive video games, 3-D printed wares, and hi-tech installations—a showcase of the “best of the best” in the fields of science and technology.

We’ll be sharing select works of bioart from the CUT/PASTE/GROW exhibition at Observatory, as well as the unicorn bacterial mosaic we—and 250 random visitors—made at SXSW Interactive.

Join us!

#WSFinnovate

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(13 Photos)

Images courtesy Daniel Grushkin.

Philadelphia, 1959: A scientist scrutinizing a single human cell under a microscope detects a missing piece of DNA. That scientist, David Hungerford, had no way of knowing that he had stumbled upon the starting point of modern cancer research—the Philadelphia chromosome. This book charts not only that landmark discovery, but also—for the first time, all in one place—the full sequence of scientific and medical discoveries that brought about the first-ever successful treatment of a lethal cancer at the genetic level.

Science journalist Jessica Wapner brings extensive original reporting to this book. Wapner reconstructs more than forty years of crucial breakthroughs, clearly explains the science behind them, and pays tribute to the dozens of researchers, doctors, and patients whose curiosity and determination restored the promise of a future to the more than 70,000 people worldwide who are diagnosed with CML each year.

The Philadelphia Chromosome helps us to fully understand and appreciate just how pathbreaking, hard-won, and consequential are the achievements it recounts—and to understand the principles behind much of today’s most important cancer research, as doctors and scientists race to uncover and treat the genetic roots of a wide range of cancers.

Jessica Wapner is a freelance science writer focused on medicine. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Slate, The New York Times, Ode, TheAtlantic.com, New York magazine, Science, Nature Medicine, Ecologist, the Scientist, and Psychology Today. Her writing on cancer has been in patient-focused magazines CR and Cure, as well as Oncology Business Review. She lives in Beacon, New York, with her family.

A Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation.

Image courtesy Alice Hungerford

For centuries, artists and designers have looked to nature for inspiration and for materials, but only recently have they become able to incorporate living organisms or tissues into their work. This startling development at the intersection of biology and design has created new aesthetic possibilities and can help address the growing urgency to build and manufacture ecologically.

In this talk, William Myers, author of the new book BioDesign: Nature + Science + Creativity, will present several recent experiments in harnessing biology for art and design: from thoroughly serious and practical applications to provocative, gorgeous works of art. Highlights include a portrait of the human microbiome, a footbridge supported by willow trees, packaging made with mushrooms and a scheme to use bacteria to solidify sand dunes into walls in the desert.

A Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation.

This event is part of CUT/PASTE/GROW.

Date: Friday, March 29
Time: 8 PM
Location: Observatory
Admission: $10 – copies of Frankenstein’s Cat will be available for purchase and signing

Biotechnology has given us a whole new toolbox for tinkering with life, and we have the power to modify animals in profound new ways. We are editing their genetic codes, rebuilding their broken bodies, and supplementing their natural senses. Scientists have already created all sorts of strange creatures, including a glow-in-the-dark cat, a bionic bulldog, and a remote-controlled cyborg beetle.

In this talk, journalist Emily Anthes, author of the new book Frankenstein’s Cat, takes us from petri dish to pet store as she explores how biotechnology is shaping the future of our furry and feathered friends. Though our new scientific superpowers often spur apocalyptic fantasizing, they could do more good for animals that they’re often given credit for.

Anthes will discuss how we can harness advances in genetics, neuroscience, and electronics to create healthier, happier, fitter critters. If we’re thoughtful and careful, we may just be able to use biotechnology to save animals—and ourselves.

A Q&A will follow the presentation.

This event is part of CUT/PASTE/GROW, a bioart exhibition hosted by Genspace and Observatory.