PANEL DISCUSSION
Art, Science, and the Emotional Response
a panel discussion on the biological as a medium in art and science
Thursday May 24 2007
8PM
Ontario College of Art & Design (OCAD)*
Auditorium
100 McCaul Street
Toronto, Canada
*note the location
Admission $10 or included in Festival pass
Innovations in medicine and life sciences are often the focus of heated debates in contemporary society. Yet in contrast, many of the innovations have also become so ubiquitous that we are often unaware of their integration into daily life.
Bioart, an emerging art form that uses the biological as its medium, explores the vast possibilities of biotechnology. Due to its controversial nature — artists working with life forms — bioart tends to generate an array of emotions.
If art is a way to express the indescribable and science is a way to explain it, we would like to investigate and contrast the responses and results drawn from artistic and scientific practices.
For this panel, we bring together scientists and artists working in the life sciences to have an open discussion about the process of creativity and accompanying emotions in the discovery of the new or the recognition of the very different in their respective work. We hope to foster discussion around the ripples generated by biotechnological breakthroughs.
- What is behind the process of discovery - how does it manifest itself?
- How does society’s perceived role of the artist or scientist influence their work?
- As the work is released into the public domain, how does it translate as a societal response?
As a departure point for discussion, each presenter will talk about his/her work. Moderated discussion with audience participation follows.
Moderator**
Sally McKay
Artist, Curator
Panelists**
Oron Catts
Artistic Director of SymbioticA, artist/researcher, curator
SymbioticA, University of Western Australia
Abigail Salyers, Ph.D.
Arends Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology
Department of Microbiology and School of Medicine
University of Illinois, Urbana
Michael G. Schmidt, Ph.D.
Director, Office of Special Programs
Professor and Vice Chair, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Medical University of South Carolina
Bioteknica - Jennifer Willet and Shawn Bailey –
Independent Artists
Concordia University
**More information can be found by clicking on the tabs to the right.
This Panel Discussion is co-presented with MicrobeWorld and the Ontario College of Art & Design.