Curriculum Sketch III

Secular Eggs

Today we heard Dr. Graham's life story and then we experimented with dying eggs in layers using food coloring and crayons.

Chalk Pastel Trees

Today we talked about contemporary artists who are engaged in scientific practices. We also used chalk pastels do make some landscapes. 

Drawing North

Some husbands came. Delicious cake was eaten. 

Eduardo Kac

Eduardo Kac is a Brazilian artist most well known for his artistic use of biotechnology and concern with ethics and politics. He is one of the most interesting artists who looks at ideas about nature. Here are some examples:





In one of my favorite pieces, Kac does the following:

• Copied the verse from book of Genesis in an Internet Bible, "Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth"
• Converted it into Morse Code, then from this code in to genetic code, using an schema he developed for this translation
• Scientists synthesized this DNA sequence for him and inserted it in to bacteria
• The bacteria are grown and displayed under an ultraviolet light in an almost dark room
• The UV light is turned on/off by visitors to the project's website
• The UV light is a mutagen, and acts to introduce changes in to the DNA sequence over time, this sequence can later be isolated and examined to read the resulting sequence.

Through this interactive piece, the viewer might contemplate a few ideas about nature: What is life? Who can make it? Who can destroy it? Is life divine? Can life ever truly end (as the bacteria grow back in a different way)? Is it ever ethical to kill? 

Another piece that he is famous for is the bioluminescent bunny. 

In this experiment/artwork, Kac created a Green Fluorescent Protein/ GFP bunny named Alba. The idea was to make an animal that does not exist in nature. He intended to keep it as a house pet and essentially use it as a work of art. Other scientists thought that the bunny should stay in labs because there were more important things that could be done with the experiment. Part of the artwork were the opinons from professionals in distinct fields and the protection of certain ethical laws. The whole ordeal ended up questioning the relationship between science and art and proved that they might be closer than we usually perceive.  

Other questions might arise from looking at this project: Is it ok to alter nature? Is it more or less beautiful when altered? How does working with living "materials" influence an artwork? Should nature be used for testing? 

Chinese Drawing with Sticks

Today was rainy, so we stayed inside and copied Chinese drawings. We talked about how imitating drawings is a great way to learn. Some artists have copied drawings and claimed them as their own and that was seen as a legitimate way of learning. I think it's very helpful and it helps me create beautiful marks.

Outdoor Painting

We went outside to paint and draw!