[spectre] Laboratory Life at Lighthouse - Call for Proposals, deadline: 20 December

[Honor Harger]

Laboratory Life - Call for Proposals

Deadline: 		20 December 2010
Laboratory: 	20 - 28 February 2011
Exhibition: 	1 - 7 March 2011
Venue: 		Lighthouse, 28 Kensington St, Brighton, UK

Lighthouse and The Arts Catalyst are thrilled to be calling for 
proposals for a unique interdisciplinary art and science workshop, 
which takes place at Brighton Science Festival in 2011.

http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/laboratorylife.htm
http://www.artscatalyst.org/experiencelearning/detail/laboratory_life/


INTRODUCTION

Laboratory Life is a production workshop, exhibition and talks 
programme, exploring the use of new technologies in biomedicine. It 
takes place in February and March 2011 in Brighton. At its heart is 
an innovative publicly accessible production workshop - or "open 
laboratory" - which will result in five new art-science projects.

Over nine days, Lighthouse will be transformed into a temporary 
laboratory. Artists Andy Gracie, Adam Zaretsky, Kira O'Reilly, Bruce 
Gilchrist, Anna Dumitriu and Gina Czarnecki are working with 
scientists, John Paul (Health Protection Agency), Helen Smith 
(Brighton & Sussex Medical School), and Tom Shakespeare (World Health 
Organisation), and sixteen young doctors, scientists and emerging 
artists, to create a series of intriguing projects which explore 
cutting edge medical technologies.

The projects created in the open laboratory will be subsequently 
showcased in a series of public events, including a temporary 
exhibition at Lighthouse, and in public presentations in Brighton, 
London and beyond.


CALL FOR PROPOSALS - DEADLINE 20 DECEMBER

We are delighted to invite proposals to participate in the laboratory 
from individuals in the early stages of a career in art, medicine, 
science or technology. We welcome proposals from emerging 
practitioners and students.

Laboratory Life presents a unique opportunity for emerging artists or 
scientists to work with some of the most significant artists working 
with art and biology today. The five lead artists have developed 
strong reputations for their thoughtful, rigorous, playful and 
stimulating work.

Working alongside these practitioners, collaborators will become 
partners in the creation of new projects, which will be exhibited at 
Lighthouse and beyond. This is an excellent opportunity for emerging 
practitioners to further their careers, and receive professional 
development in a creative atmosphere, supported by curators and 
artistic and scientific mentors.

Lighthouse and The Arts Catalyst will provide collaborators with 
hostel accommodation for the duration of the workshop, and technical 
facilities and materials for the workshop and exhibition.

Full details & call for proposals: 
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/forms/LH_LL_callforcollaborators.pdf
Deadline: 20 December 2010
Email proposals to: info at lighthosue.org.uk

BACKGROUND

Laboratory Life is organised by Lighthouse and The Arts Catalyst, and 
with support from the Wellcome Trust. It was initiated by Andy 
Gracie, based on the Interactivos? model developed by the Media Lab 
Prado in Madrid.

The project explores the role of technology in biomedicine. 
Technology is transforming healthcare and biomedical research. The 
practice of medicine is being revolutionized by new technologies such 
as informatics, biotechnologies, new materials, and robotics. Yet 
there is a sense of ambivalence in the general public about this 
increasing technologization.  Technology represents both progress and 
threat. Laboratory Life address this ambivalence by adopting a 
radically open structure, where the public will observe, and engage 
with, artists and scientists as they work with biomedical 
technologies in an open laboratory environment.

The laboratory will provide participants from both science and art 
background with a space for reflection, research, and collaborative 
work.  The radical public nature of the workshop - the open 
laboratory - will allow the public to drop in, visit and engage with 
the participants. This will mean that as well as collaborators taking 
away new knowledge, techniques and understanding, the participating 
artists and scientists will find unexpected ways to stimulate public 
understanding of biomedical science.

Working in five groups, each led by an experienced artist, young 
doctors, scientists and emerging artists selected from this open 
call, will work intensively over nine days to develop and produce 
five new projects for exhibition. This will be a highly concentrated 
and demanding experience for the participants. The Interactivos? 
production workshop model, developed by Medialab Prado in Madrid has 
shown this intensive process to be extremely productive.

The title of the project - Laboratory Life - is taken from Bruno 
Latour and Steve Woolgar's well-known book of the same name, which is 
an anthropological study of a scientific laboratory. Laboratory Life 
extends from the themes introduced in Latour and Woolgar's text, 
welcoming the public to observe and interact with scientists, and 
artists as they work on a range of projects, which span DNA 
tattooing, astrobiology, micro-biological textiles and much more.

The project is lead by Andy Gracie, an artist who works with 
robotics, sound, video and biology to create exchanges between 
natural and artificial systems. His project for Laboratory Life, "The 
Quest for Drosophila titanus" is an astrobiological experiment.

The other artists leading projects are:
- Bruce Gilchrist is one half of London Fieldworks, an art collective 
who explore ecology as a complex inter-working of social, natural, 
and technological worlds. His project, "Public Misunderstandings of 
Science", explores our relationship with scientific information.

- Kira O'Reilly employs performance, biotechnical practices and 
writing consider speculative ideas around the body. her project, "The 
Garden Shed Lab" is a DIY creative space using yeasts, eggs and plant 
tissues.

- Adam Zaretsky is an artist who's radical practice encompasses 
biology, ecology, biotechnology, live art and gastronomy.  His 
project, "Tattoo Traits", explores the feasibility of tattooing our 
DNA.

- Anna Dumitriu is an artist who's installations and performances use 
a range of digital and biological media to blur the boundaries 
between art and science. Her project, "Infective Textiles", is a 
series of microbiological textile artworks.

Artist, Gina Czarnecki, will act as an artistic mentor, providing 
advice and input throughout the project.
Scientists John Paul (Health Protection Agency) and Helen Smith 
(Brighton & Sussex Medical School) will work closely with the teams 
during the laboratory. Dr Tom Shakespeare (World Health Organisation) 
will provide advice and support.

KEY DATES

Deadline for Proposals:		20 December 2010
Open Laboratory: 			20 - 28 February 2011
Exhibition: 			1 - 7 March 2011
Talks:				3, 5 March 2011


MORE INFORMATION & CONTACT DETAILS

Lighthouse
http://www.lighthouse.org.uk
Address: 28 Kensington Street, Brighton, BN1 4AJ, UK
Tel: +44 1273 647197
Email: info at lighthouse.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LighthouseArts

or

The Arts Catalyst
http://www.artscatalyst.org/
Address: 50-54 Clerkenwell Road, London EC1M 5PS, UK
Tel: +44 (0)20 7251 8567
Email: admin at artscatalyst.org

We wish to thank Media Lab Prado and The Wellcome Trust for their support.