Dear New Media Curating, I hate to breach the 'no announcements' rule, but I wanted to tell you about a project that Lighthouse & The Arts Catalyst are working on which takes a different approach to curating and production. Laboratory Life is inspired by Media-Lab-Prado's Interactivos? working model, and is led by artist, Andy Gracie. It gathers together some of the leading artists working with bio-science - Adam Zaretsky, Kira O'Reilly, Bruce Gilchrist, and Anna Dumitriu. Rather than being a curated project as such, Laboratory Life has a radically open structure whereby artists, scientists and a group of collaborators work together in a collective working space, which is open to the public, to create collaborative projects. The results are by definition, undefined, and we are looking forward to seeing how this evolved. If any of you are nearby we'd welcome you to drop by the laboratory and see these unique collaborative projects take shape. Hope everyone is well. Best wishes, Honor Harger Director, Lighthouse Brighton, UK http://www.lighthouse.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------------ Laboratory Life An art-science laboratory, led by artist Andy Gracie & organised by Lighthouse and The Arts Catalyst, staged as part of Brighton Science Festival. Open Laboratory: 22 - 28 February 2011 Exhibition: 2 - 6 March 2011 Talks: 3, 5 March 2011 At: Lighthouse, 28 Kensington St, Brighton, UK More information: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk ------------------------------------------------------------ Medicine is being transformed by new technology - genetic engineering, robotics, new materials and informatics. But many of us feel ambivalent about these changes. Technology is both progress and a threat. Laboratory Life addresses this ambivalence by creating a unique, interactive art-science laboratory, open to the public. Conceived and led by artist Andy Gracie, a group of international artists and scientists from the UK, Spain and the US will be working with young doctors, scientists and emerging artists, to create a series of projects exploring the cutting edge of medical technology in a living laboratory at Lighthouse in Brighton. What makes this project unique is its open nature. Most laboratories are closed to the public, and we have little idea of what goes on inside them. But Laboratory Life is adopting a radically open structure, inviting the public to come and visit the laboratory, meet the artists and scientists as they're working, and discuss what they are doing. Visitors are welcome any afternoon between 1200 - 1800. Visitors will meet artists Andy Gracie, Adam Zaretsky, Kira O'Reilly, Bruce Gilchrist, and Anna Dumitriu. They will be working in close collaboration with scientists, John Paul (Health Protection Agency), Helen Smith (Brighton & Sussex Medical School), and Tom Shakespeare (World Health Organisation). Joining them are sixteen exceptional young doctors, scientists and emerging artists, Sarah Roberts, Brian Degger, Melissa Grant, Kate Genevieve, Simona Casonato, David Louwrier, Daksha Patel, Kuiashen Auson, Janine Fenton, Meredith Walsh, Valerie Furnham, Columba Quigley, Genevieve Maxwell, Zack Denfield, Helen Bullard and Simon Hall. Laboratory Life is inspired by the Interactivos? production workshop model, developed by Medialab Prado in Madrid. The title of the project - Laboratory Life - is taken from the title of Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar's well-known book of the same name, which is an anthropological study of a scientific laboratory. ____ Exhibition http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/laboratorylifeex.htm The artists and scientists will create five art-science projects which will be the basis of a fascinating exhibition at Lighthouse, featuring DNA tattooing, astrobiology, microbiological textiles and much more which is open to the public 2-6 March 2011, as part of Brighton Science Festival. ____ Talk http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/laboratorylife.htm On 3 March, Andy Gracie, Kira O'Reilly and Anna Dumitriu will speak about their experiences of taking part in the Lab, and will discuss the process of making work using biomedical technology. ____ Forum http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/whatson/laboratorylifeforum.htm On 5 March, Lighthouse hosts a public forum, where the public can debate the role of new technology in medicine. ____ About the Lead Artists 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 at Laboratory Life is Infective Textiles - a series of microbiological textile artworks. 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. Andy Gracie works with robotics, sound, video and biology to create exchanges between natural and artificial systems. His project The Quest for Drosophila titanus is an astrobiological experiment. 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. ____ About the Organisers Laboratory Life is organised by Lighthouse <http://www.lighthouse.org.uk> and The Arts Catalyst <http://www.artscatalyst.org>, with support from the Wellcome Trust <http://www.wellcome.ac.uk>. It is conceived by artist Andy Gracie <http://www.hostprods.net>, based on the Interactivos? model developed by the Media Lab Prado in Madrid <http://medialab-prado.es/interactivos>. The project is part of Brighton Science Festival <http://www.brightonscience.com/2011> ____ More information Lighthouse Tel: 01273 647197 email: [log in to unmask] web: www.lighthouse.org.uk Address: Lighthouse, 28 Kensington Street, Brighton BN1 4AJ -- Honor Harger Director Lighthouse http://www.lighthouse.org.uk Address: 28 Kensington Street, Brighton, BN1 4AJ, UK Tel: +44 1273 647197 email: [log in to unmask] Find us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/LighthouseArts Join our mailing list: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk/about/signup.html -- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . honor harger present location: brighton, .uk email: [log in to unmask] sms: +44 7765834272 -> w o r k director of lighthouse: http://www.lighthouse.org.uk -> b l o g particle decelerator: http://decelerator.blogspot.com/ - > b l a g twitter: http://twitter.com/honorharger -> l i s t e n radio astronomy: http://www.radio-astronomy.net -> w e b bio: http://www.radioqualia.net/honor