[spectre] Bioart goes live in more ways than one!

[ANAT Communications]

MEDIA RELEASE
**Apologies for cross postings

Bioart goes LIVE in more ways than one!

The Australian Network for Art & Technology (ANAT) is pleased to
announce its latest initiative: a moderated elist discussion on
contemporary art and science collaborations in fields including bioart,
artificial intelligence, robotics, climate change and space, amongst
others.

Running from March to December 2008, each month-long discussion will be
led by international experts.

To whet your appetite, here are some initial thoughts from participants
in the Bioart discussion, beginning on Monday the 3rd of March...

Oron Catts is an artist, researcher and curator. He is the co-Founder
and Director of SymbioticA, which won the 2007 Prix Ars Electronica
Golden Nica in Hybrid Art. Oron comments "the growing tension between
the 'essence of life' and contemporary approaches to the engineering of
life is where the most interesting bioart works lie."

Monika Bakke is Assistant Professor of Aesthetics at Adam Mickiewicz
University, Poland. She has a particular interest in posthumanist,
cross-cultural and gender perspectives in contemporary art/aesthetics.
Monika believes, "Bioart evokes questions of belonging, identity and
sustainability, highlighting the need to move beyond anthropocentrism
in order to fully recognise augmented, modified and
technologically-supported life of all kinds."

George Gessert's work focuses on the overlap of art and genetics. He
has exhibited widely and his writings have appeared in numerous books
and publications, including Best American Essays 2007. George notes
"I've been producing and exhibiting bioart works for more than 20
years, during which time I've sought to keep the focus on aesthetics
rather than politics. Lately, however, I've been asking myself: what is
the relevance of bioart to climate change?"

Kathy High is Head of Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (USA).
As a practicing artist, her works address medicine/bioscience, science
fiction and animal/interspecies collaborations. Kathy comments, "I am
involved with the development of a new animal research facility and
wonder what methods artists have used to 'humanise' engagement with
non-human subjects."

Jens Hauser is a Paris-based curator, writer and videomaker focussing
on the interactions between art and technology, and on transgenre and
contextual aesthetics. He organised L'Art Biotech (2003) France Still,
Living (2007) Australia and, most recently sk-interfaces (2008) UK.

To subscribe to the elist, please visit: www.synapse.net.au

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ANAT is assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia
Council for the Arts http://www.ozco.gov.au its arts funding and
advisory body, by the South Australian Government through Arts SA
http://www.arts.sa.gov.au and the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy, an
initiative of the Australian, State and Territory Governments.