Art Crush

SCIENCE AS ART PHYTOPIA by Rob Kessler

Extending the long and illustrious history of artists working with flowers and plants, Phytopia reveals a hidden world lying beyond the scope of the human eye. Working in the liminal territory between Art and Science, this extensive collection of images is derived from plant samples; pollen, seeds, fruit and leaves, creating images that lie somewhere between science and symbolism.

JONAS WOOD 

jonas wood

Rob Pruitt

Gradient Cylinder

2013

Acrylic and enamel on wood

Malena Lopez-Maggi

In the Air, 2016

Dichroic acrylic installation at John McNeil Studio in Berkeley, CA

The cloud-like shapes in this installation are based on particulate matter that had settled out of the air in my studio. I observed these particles through a microscope at 100-400x magnification and drew my favorite blobs. I then digitally converted the drawings into files to be laser cut.

You can read more about my artistic process here:

http://www.jmslimitededition.com/?edition=malena-lopez-maggi

BIOPLASTIC FANTASTIC - LIVING DEVICES

  Bioplastic Fantastic investigates new types of products and interactions which might emerge from material innovations in the fields of bio- and nanotechnology. It speculates about the future design and use of domestic products made from enzyme-enhanced bioplastics. The concept is based on a recent scientific breakthrough in the synthesis of functioning “biological” cells made from polymers and enzymes. 

Seven “living” devices provide all nutrients and energy needed for a human to survive. They produce water, vitamins, fibre, sugar, fat, protein and minerals through biological processes, and are powered by artificial photosynthesis. 

The devices are designed to be part of a biologically influenced domestic space, and their aesthetics are not machine-like or lab-like, to emphasise their domesticity and the design opportunities that might arise with these new types of materials: to make design more sensual, and less technical, less industrial. The loss of the natural sensuality of traditional food is substituted by a designed, artificial sensuality. 

All of the device designs are based on bacteria which have similar functions in nature. They use the functional part of the biological circuit (enzymes), and combine this with non-living matter (bioplastic). As interactive products are growing closer and closer to the body, and scientists are making advances in the use of biological matter in materials suitable for product design, it feasible that soon biochemical processes will be taking place in and on our technological devices. 

Rather than being a proposal or a solution, the project aims at asking questions and provoking discussions about which kinds of applications of bio- and nanotechnology we would want to be part of our future everyday lives.

The seven products:

1. ‘Rhod’ - produces protein — model organism: Rhodococcus bacteria

2. ‘Cyan’ - produces sugar & oxygen — model organism: Cyanobacteria

3. ‘Pseu’ - extracts water from air — model organism: Pseudomonas

4. ‘Caul’ - produces protein — model organism: Caulobacter

5. ‘Gluc’ - produces fibre — model organism: Gluconanacetobacter

6. ‘Lith’ - extracts minerals from rocks — model organism: Lithotrophs