Lecture Topic:
BIOTEC & BIOART

Vital importance of biology:

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/

Visual Explanations of H1N1:
http://healstory.blogspot.com/2009/08/dig-up-your-knowledge-about-h1n1.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/027122_swine_flu_swine_flu_vaccine_H1N1.html

an example:

Escherichia coli

* September 2006: Center of Ecoli.doc
* 2006 North American E. coli outbreak

* Escherichia coli O157:H7

* Industrialized Farming & the possibilities of massive spread of contaminated foodstuffs

* E. coli Genome Project

trans·gen·ic (trns-jnk, trnz
adj.

1. Of, relating to, or being an organism whose genome has been altered by the transfer of a gene or genes from another species or breed: transgenic mice; transgenic plants.

2. Of or relating to the study of transgenic organisms: transgenic research.

Main Entry: ¹trans·gen·ic
Function: adjective
: being or used to produce an organism or cell of one species into which one or more genes of other species have been incorporated <transgenic mice> <transgenic corn plants> <transgenic techniques>; also : produced by or composed of transgenic plants or animals <transgenic foods>

Main Entry: ²transgenic
Function: noun
1 : a transgenic plant or animal
2 trangenics pl but sing in constr : a branch of biotechnology concerned with the production of transgenic plants, animals, and foods

organism: making art with living systems

Potential  Contributions of Bioartists to Research
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V120/N26/bioartists.26f.html
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~swilson/papers/wilson.bioartschapter.html
http://www.abc.net.au/arts/digital/stories/s877305.htm

Living tissue culture, genetic, morphologic modifications, biomechanic constructions are some of the many techniques bio artists use. ______________________________

'junsui project' http://shineisei.jp/

Visiting artist: Boryana Rossa

1. Vivo Labs - Julia Reodica

2. Symbiotica

3. Adam Zaretsky

4. Beatriz da Costa

5. Kathy High

6. Suzanne Anker

7. Natalie Jeremijenko 1 2

8. Steve Kurtz

9. Stelarc

10. Eduardo Kac

11. subRosa

12. Critical Art Ensemble - biotech projects

13. Chimeras

14. Strange Animals

Differing Ideologies:

* The Molecular Invasion

http://www.critical-art.net/books/molecular/
* Pushing the edge of art and legality
By Randy Kennedy The New York Times

NANOTECHNOLOGY … and BIOtech??
* Drexler and Smalley make the case for and against 'molecular assemblers'
* The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of fact & fiction in the construction of a new science by Jim Gimzewski and Victoria Vesna

Resources:

Web Artists:

Whitney Art Port: http://artport.whitney.org/
Rhizome http://www.rhizome.org/
Dia web art: http://www.diacenter.org/webproj/

Samples of visual explanations:

http://www.englishcompanion.com/pdfDocs/davincinotes.pdf

http://www.dynamicdiagrams.com/index.php

http://www.ineedcpr.com/products_services/visual_explanations/visual_explanations.html

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/fineart

A History of The Net: http://www.livinginternet.com/w/wi_lee.htm

___________________________________

Screenings:
Biomedicine and Biotechnology dvd

___________________________________

Readings:

http://www.ciac.ca/magazine/archives/no_23/en/entrevue.htm

and

The Nanomeme Syndrome.doc

and

NANOTECHNOLOGY_essential big problems.doc

___________________________________

Studio skills: Web design, basics of Dreamweaver, html, information architecture, file management, image prep for the web, text on the web, proper naming conventions, layers, tables, metatags.

If you are an advanced student in web development skills, you can use xml, css or php. The idea here is to challenge you to expand your existing skills sets in expressing your creative ideas in envisioning your bio or nao tech art project.

Advanced raster and/or vector imaging, dynamics of text and image, dpi, layers, file management, imagination of the relevant issues at the nano/macro/bio level, creating expressive visual explanations, basic website development.

Basics for beginners in Studio:

Dreamweaver tutorials to get you started:

Basic Site structure, getting started, definitions, interface, site control, creating new documents, adding text and structure, CSS foundations, typography, images, linking, tables, forms, templates, interactivity.

http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourseN.aspx?lpk2=682

http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourseN.aspx?lpk2=708

http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourseN.aspx?lpk2=172

(dvd also in library under class reserve)

other info (for all versions of Dreamweaver):

Dreamweaver tutorials click here

CSS INFO: http://www.cssgarden.com/

html tech info at:
Bare Bones Guide to HTML: http://werbach.com/barebones/download.html
Web Style Guide : http://www.webstyleguide.com/index.html?/contents.html
WWW Help Pages: http://werbach.com/web/wwwhelp.html
W3C HyperText Markup Language (HTML) Home Page http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/

Intermediate to advanced in Studio:

Push your skills in css, php, etc.

___________________________________

Project: Bio/Nao Art Net Project
Create a short website which explains your ideas for an original bio/nano art piece. Your visual explanation should describe and show your ideas in text, visuals and elements of interaction. Explore the technological, ethical and social questions which your project poses.

Task: Using the ideas covered in lecture discussions, studio, your own personal research and intuition, create an original idea for a hypothetical bioart or nanotec project and present your concept in an original web art project which uses images, text and information architecture in expressive ways to communicate your ideas.

Deliverables:
Submit one folder to your drop box (named with your name) which contains all the elements of your Bio/Nano Art Net Project. This should include at least:
* index .html
* 3 to 12 original web ready images envisioning your project
* at least linked 6 pages which contain your images/text/etc

Additionally: Also upload your site to your rcs public html and ensure that your BioArt Net Project works. Use the following to upload it:

:::::::::For the PC:
ftp.rpi.edu
right click
login
public html
drag your folder into your public html folder
check it then at:
www.rpi.edu/~yourrcsusername/yourfoldername/index.html

:::::::::For the Mac computer:
1. Download any free ftp software such as ClassicFTP or Cyberduck (They are both for Mac, and you can find them very easily through Google search.)
2. Install the software first and lanch it.
3. In 'FTP Site Properties' or something similar depending on which FTP software you use, type the following:
FTP Sever: ftp.rpi.edu
User Name: your RPI user name
Password: your RPI email password
4. Then click OK or Connect

Now you will be able to connect to your RPI web hosting server. To make sure, if you see 'public_html' folder as one of 5 folders. If yes, then you are properly logged in.

1. Once you connect to the server, double click 'public_html' folder (don't be confused with 'public' folder.
2. You should put your index.html file in the 'public_html' folder. (The index.html file name should use all lower case.)
3. Open your internet browser like firefox or safari. Type http://rpi.edu/~username or http://rpi.edu/~username/index.html and see if you see your index.html file is loaded.

Grading Criteria:

1. Assignment completed on-time

2. Adherence to the size and file format specifications

3. Exploration and application of creative tools in Dreamweaver, html, or xml

4. Quality and clarity of class presentation

5. Quality, originality, relevance and relation to issues in Biotech/Nanotech expressed in your artistic project, and the technological, ethical and social questions which your project poses.

6. Ability to create a well designed and workable web project which expands your existing skill levels.