Presentation at "Living Matter" Summer School
I participated at the "Living Matter" Summer School and presenting my "Gene Collect" project at the Academy of Media Art in Köln / Germany from 19th - 23rd July 2010. My lecture took place on Monday, 19th July 2010.
It was a good experience to present this rather large and long project from my Design Interactions course to an external audience as it becomes clear, that all academic preparations are usually held within a closed community of experts. Taking it to an external community raised a number of unexpected but valuable questions about what a "design scenario" of the like we are creating at the RCA actually is and why we are doing it. This kind of reality check is probably a very important interaction for utopians and other missionaries.
The work of Patrick Cunningham sounded really interesting as well, as he is currently setting up a series of workshops in Synthetic Biology to promote access for the non-academic DIY home tinkerer. I think we will hear more stories of that kind soon.
About the summer school's focus:
"The convergence of technologies like information and bio sciences, and also nano and neuro sciences, characterises the recent challenge in science and technology, promising new technological outcomes like nano-bio processors, smart dust and innovative materials. Because manipulating matter on the nano scale, information bit by bit, and life on the scale of cells and neurons raises the hope of creating a new form of science and technology, convergence is being hailed as the new paradigm of the 21st century, referring to the 'unity of nature'." (from "Embodied Information" FU-Berlin)
You can find more photos at my flickr photoset.