Adam Zaretsky: Transgenic Ecology, An Oxymoron?
Ideas
Adam Zaretsky: Transgenic Ecology, An Oxymoron?
By Adam Zaretsky
Adam Zaretsky is an American Wet-Lab Art Practitioner mixing Ecology, Biotechnology, Non-human Relations, Body Performance and Gastronomy. Makery invites him for a summer series of speculative texts based on his own artistic practice and the ethical and philosophical questions he raises regarding contemporary biological research.
As a follow-up to the Open Source Body symposium and festival organised by the Makery medialab this May at the Cité Internati...
La politica ambientale di Cina e Giappone / Environmental politics in China and Japan
[ITA] La tutela dell’ambiente è diventata un elemento centrale della Cina del XXI secolo, poiché il Paese non riusciva più a crescere senza considerare il problema dell’inquinamento. Nel 2013, l’inquinamento atmosferico a Pechino e nelle altre metropoli cinesi toccò livelli insostenibili.
[ENG] Environmental protection has become a central element of 21st century China, as the country could no longer grow without considering the problem of pollution. In 2013, air pollution in Beijing and other ...
![The Deep Meaning of Poetry. Eduardo Kac’s Art of the Fundamental Processes [Part 2. Interview to Eduardo Kac]](https://noemalab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/kac_interview-640x480.jpg)
The Deep Meaning of Poetry. Eduardo Kac’s Art of the Fundamental Processes [Part 2. Interview to Eduardo Kac]
I create form, I create form that gives itself to the senses which is to say, form that provides an aesthetic experience. That is what I do and that is what art is supposed to do. What is particular in what I do, that is unique and underpins all of my interests, is that early on in my life I understood that life could not fold into haze: either we would find ourselves in a condition that we would be free or we would find ourselves in a condition that we would not be free.
Pink Water Landscapes of Artifice. On Smithson’s “Spiral Jetty” Heritage in the Making of “Vanishing Point”
In 2019 I visited the “Spiral Jetty” twice: alone right after my arrival in Utah, and on the morning of a late summer day when I had to fly back to Italy. That was when I shot the video-performance “Vanishing Point” influenced by Smithson’s idea of entropy and disruption, and his interest in geology, time sediments, location identity (Kwon, 2002), and environment that are widely investigated in his writings (1996).
The Climate crisis and the sea rising. The art*science – Art & Climate Change project in Cervia
The Anthropocene imposes a reflection about the time span of the human species and cultures in contrast to that of the individuals, requires a vision extended to a remote future that should be governed knowing that people will not be part of it. This implies a cognitive leap, a different consideration of humanity and its relationship with the “non human” and the environment, intended as a complex dynamic intercourse, towards a further level of awareness in a new pact with the existing. In the An...
Recombinant text and narrative
Hierarchies form a sense of structure and point of view and reference. Logic exists in how things connect inside of a work of art or literature in the sense of how it is entered, completed and which details and related deeper resonance and symbolism are placed at the fore in terms of detail and composition and which are placed in more subtle , auxiliary roles within. But what could happen if when completed the work invited someone to play, to shift and reform it whole?
La Corporate Social Responsibility aziendale e lo sviluppo sostenibile / CSR and sustainable development
[ITA] A seguito dell'impatto negativo sull'immaginario collettivo provocato dalle catastrofi ambientali è nato il concetto di diritto all’ambiente salubre, oggi finalmente annoverato fra i diritti umani fondamentali.
[ENG] In conjunction with the negative impact on the collective imagination following the environmental disasters, the concept of the right to a healthy environment was born, finally included among the fundamental human rights.
Suturing Cures
The definition and deployment of a ‘cure’ can act as a balance against future governance (power) offering complex technologies as a sine qua non ‘cover’ for a global minority that continues to exploit a century-long repression encouraged by a clique of world leaders who give free reign to the absolute worst form of political representation, namely to global business.
Ecologia, ecologismo e la Nuova Strategia Climatica / Ecology, environmentalism and the New Climate Strategy
[ITA] Il pensiero ecologista o ambientalista si è sviluppato negli ultimi decenni soprattutto in seguito ad alcuni disastri ambientali avvenuti per causa umana.
[ENG] Ecological or environmentalist thinking has developed in recent decades mainly as a result of some huge environmental disasters that have occurred for human cause.
Metodi ed Emozioni / Méthodes et émotions
[ITA] L’emozione è proprio ciò che conduce alla curiosità scientifica. L’opera d’arte dà luogo anche a una riflessione di tipo scientifico perché include una componente scientifica. Proprio perché c’è un contenuto d’informazione di tipo scientifico può esserci un valore estetico.
[FRA] L’émotion est justement ce qui nous amène à la curiosité scientifique. L’œuvre d’art donne lieu aussi à une réflexion de type scientifique, car elle inclut une composante scientifique. En réalité la science contie...
Note sul tramonto dell’umanesimo / Notes on the decline of humanism
[ITA] Bisogna oltrepassare l’umanesimo, andare al di là dell’umano, superare un antropocentrismo miope e ottuso che ha posto l’Homo sapiens in cima alla piramide del vivente.
[ENG] It is necessary to go beyond humanism, beyond the human, to overcome a short-sighted and obtuse anthropocentrism that has placed Homo sapiens on top of the pyramid of the living.
The Quarantine Culture. The Emergency Exit during Pandemic’s Social Distancing
"To sum up, returning to the question of whether virtual hugs can indeed give you comfort, the findings suggest that, as the new rules of social interaction become part of your reality, your brain may react in ways that can actually provide you with at least some consolation."
Coevolution of Human-Machine Creativity: Incorporating the Visual Output of Artificial Intelligence into Traditional Art Making
The visual output from these AI generated paintings were incorporated back into abstract artworks of my own creation using traditional means; and these could subsequently be used as input to the DCGAN algorithm. When implemented iteratively, this procedure can lead to coevolution of human-machine creativity, as the artistic output of each entity (human and AI) influence each other.
L’art numérique, un art contemporain? / L’arte digitale, un’arte contemporanea?
[FRA] Toujours la même question du rapport tourmenté entre art numérique et art contemporain. Pourquoi encore cette question? D’abord, parce qu’elle n’est pas résolue. Mais on peut se demander si elle le sera un jour, ou s’il faut vraiment la résoudre.
[ITA] Sempre la stessa domanda del tormentato rapporto tra arte digitale e arte contemporanea. Perché riproporre questa domanda? Per prima cosa, perché é ancora irrisolta. Ma é lecito chiedersi se é possibile risolverla oggi o un giorno, o se ha d...
Sentient Text
The time is here for texts to explore psychology, cognition, the micro to macro balance and imbalance of a body, of sentience, of mortality, of the body over time and of relationships with each reader.
Emersion de l’émersiologie
En refusant le réductionnisme même méthodologique, l’émersiologie, comme écologie corporelle, étudie la langue du corps vivant dans l’éveil de nouvelles sensations jusqu’à la conscience sans que celle-ci l’ait désiré volontairement ni recherché délibérément dans une performance.
Ambiguous humanity. Some reflections between hope and future starting from Greta Thunberg
Lots of words have been said and written about Greta Thunberg. Her parable is an interesting case study in the communication and media realms, but it also provides an opportunity to reflect on human responsibilities, on the present and the future of our species. It deserves some further considerations.
Introduction to the Fiftieth Anniversary Edition of Expanded Cinema
On April 6, 2021, Gene Youngblood has died. I had the honour to edit with Simonetta Fadda the Italian edition of his seminal essay Expanded Cinema in a book series coproduced by Noema. In 2020 he sent me the "Introduction to the Fiftieth Anniversary Edition of Expanded Cinema" in order to publish it in Noema. It was a honour for us, as well as it is a honour now to celebrate Gene Youngblood's fundamental work proposing that essay again. Pier Luigi Capucci, Noema President
L’umanità controversa. Riflessioni tra speranza e futuro a partire da Greta Thunberg
[ITA] Si è detto e scritto molto sul conto di Greta Thunberg, quello che ha fatto è stato esaltato, analizzato, criticato, fino a diventare oggetto di insulti e minacce. La sua parabola costituisce un oggetto di studio interessante dal punto di vista della comunicazione e dei media, ma fornisce anche l’occasione per soffermarsi sulle responsabilità umane, sul presente e sul futuro della nostra specie.
[ENG] It has been said and written a lot about Greta Thunberg, what she did was exalted, analyz...
A tribute to Noema 20th Anniversary
In 2002 I worked on a collaborative project 34 North 118 West that was one of the first GPS locative narratives. After that there was a new terrifying feeling in my life of what to do next, where to go on an invisible, uncertain path. I felt lost for a year then collaborated on a project that ran text/image/sound works with hacked data from earthquake sensors. We worked on it for months and it was in a gallery back when digital exhibition was strange and odd. We buried a computer in a wall...
Biomimetics and shifting languages: computation to aid nature
These concepts are now absolutely crucial as the world warms beyond all previous predictive analysis. The analog of technology may have already reached a complexity apex. The circle would close when we move toward helping the organic world and the concerns therein. Complexity is many layers or parts working together, but when overpacked, it becomes overly complicated.
![The Deep Meaning of Poetry. Eduardo Kac’s Art of the Fundamental Processes [Part 1. Topics and issues]](https://noemalab.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/01-Alba_2-640x480.jpg)
The Deep Meaning of Poetry. Eduardo Kac’s Art of the Fundamental Processes [Part 1. Topics and issues]
Eduardo Kac has raised many nodal questions on the transformations of society and culture, in a constant creative relationship with the technology and the science of his time. In his research communication, intended as mutual information exchange is a fundamental topic. This makes Kac a perfect interpreter of the resources and contradictions of the contemporary, with a strong vision on how the present time can possibly develop and evolve into the future.
Arte e comunicazione della scienza
[ITA] Esistono delle dinamiche o delle pratiche del mondo dell’arte che possono risultare interessanti per la comunicazione della scienza?
[ENG] Are there practices in art that can be interesting in science communication?
Awful Grace
The sixth extinction may well claim us; considering what our species has done to the rest of life, we may deserve to go extinct, sooner rather than later. But I hope that we survive. [...] Much of our habitat seems likely to be lost. However, if we survive there will be song and dance, stories and drawings. These are what human beings have always done best. One way or another we will have a new culture, genuinely new. Many new cultures may arise, some, perhaps most, beyond imagining today.
Oocyte Aesthetic, Human Design and Mission Creep
The admixture of global interspecies variety through genetic engineering and the cloning of spectacular hereditary cascades should only be approved through an aesthetic advisory commission made up of artists, art historians and off-the-locus aesthetics specialists. The future of style and the avoidance of our populous birthing any aesthetic hazards are dependent on collaboration between new reproductive biotechnology and the Arts.
Post-polyploidy subgenome evolution of glitch art
Can artistic innovation be inspired and guided on knowledge taken from the field of plant genome evolution? The author explored this question by subjecting a glitch artwork to processes analogous to those shaping the evolution of the maize genome; that are whole genome duplication (WGD), subgenome bias fractionation and genome dominance, respectively.
Tra arte e complessità / Between Art and Complexity
[ITA] Emerge la complessità dell’arte e allo stesso tempo è l’arte stessa a sciogliere la matassa della complessità in un processo ricorsivo, fondamentale e imprescindibile dove l’arte di-svela la filosofia della/sulla contemporaneità.
[ENG] What emerges is both the complexity of art and, at the same time, the statement that claims that art can dissolve the skin of complexity itself in a recursive, fundamental and indispensable process where art reveals the philosophy of contemporaneity....