[Synapse elist] vitalism and vitality

[Melinda Rackham]

Hello all
welcome to the Synapse e-list.

I am delighted that this long overdue global art~research~science  
list has debuted!   When I read Oron's opening statement it generated  
a palpable sense of excitement in the potentialities of the  
discussion which will take place here. ANAT has a l20 year history of  
research in the art and science arena - our current residency  
projects focus on nano, neuro, astrophysics, light emissions,   
artificial intelligence, robotics, and genomics, and we are  looking  
fwd to bringing both these and other rich arenas of investigation to  
critical dialogue amongst artists, scientists, writers and curators  
globally, and further distributing interdisciplinary approaches with  
the  publications which follow..

Welcome everyone..

warm regards,
Melinda

++++++++++++
Dr Melinda Rackham
Executive Director
Australian Network for Art and Technology

Hello list,

Last night I had dinner with a bunch of scientists and clinicians who  
work
on cancer research, cells engineering and therapy. So I used that
opportunity to raise some of the issues that I feel need to be  
discuss in
this forum as well; we talked about the unique position of life in our
search for knowledge, and what is then done with this knowledge. Working
with life from the level of molecules to patients they were all  
attempting
to come up with a materialist (i.e. non spiritual) ways to talk about  
the
unique essence of life. Some were trying to limit that only to human  
life
while others were more open to look at life from cells to organisms as
something that is different from all other processes and materials.  
Someone
evoked the envy biologists sometimes feel toward physicists who can  
do "real
science" by being total reductionists, while biologists are dealing  
with the
"messiness" of life as well as the very visceral implications of their
research. That brought me to the original statement I prepared for this
forum, and to the question- is it different when artists are using  
life as
their material?

Here is what I originally stated:

I am fascinated by the use of life as a medium for artistic  
engagement. As a
mirror reflecting back the different levels of human intervention and
manipulation of living systems, art highlights the fact that we perceive
life differently to any other material or process.  This special
consideration to life should be recognised and elaborated, perhaps as  
a form
of secular vitalism.

The growing tension between this elusive essence of life, either  
perceived
or real, and the mounting approaches to engineer life - is the zone  
in which
the most interesting art and biology works lie. I would have loved to
explore this further, drawing upon the idea of direct experiential
engagement with the manipulation of life as a cultural strategy.


looking forward to a stimulating discussion
best

Oron