Coalesce: Center for Biological Art

DEADLINE EXTENDED: the Coalesce BioArt Residency application deadline is extended to this Friday the 21st!

University at Buffalo students, are you still building your Fall 2024 course schedule? Consider ART 464/564 Biological Art!

This course is a comprehensive introduction to the field of Biological Art with emphasis on developing critical and creative thought, discussion of ethical and cultural issues, and cross-disciplinary experimentation in art and science.

Primarily for art practitioners, but spaces will be reserved for interested students from the life sciences and humanities who wish to engage with the interdisciplinary activities of creative bioresearch.

Artists working in this field utilize biological techniques as essential components of their process or finished works—thus Biology is not only a “subject” of the work, but often the “medium” of the work as well.

Coalesce Biological Art Residency applications close June 18th at 11:59pm EST!

As a Coalesce resident, you will have access to a sterile hood, fume hoods, an
anaerobic glove-box, a thermocycler, autoclaves, incubators,
electrophoresis equipment, DNA transilluminators, a digital
imaging station, a bioinformatics station, centrifuges, dissecting and compound
microscopes, and other lab equipment.

In addition to a hybrid studio laboratory dedicated to enabling hands-on creative engagement with the tools and technologies of the life sciences, residents also have the opportunity to explore the local ecosystems of Western New York on Coalesce nature outings!

Information on the residency application and more detailed information, click the link in our bio or visit our website buffalo.edu/coalesce.

Coalesce is currently accepting proposals for Biological Art residencies!

Coalesce Center for Biological Arts is a hybrid studio laboratory dedicated to enabling hands-on creative engagement with the tools and technologies of the life sciences. Residencies span a minimum of one month and we encourage residents to stay for two or three months as they will likely be learning many new techniques and biological experiments often require long incubation periods.

This is a modestly paid residency that provides a laboratory space to work with and residents will have a chance to publicly speak about their project in the form of a workshop, lecture, or discussion forum.

The application is open from now till June 18th at 11:59pm (EST).

The residency application details and form will be linked in our bio!



Slide 4 photo by Doug Levere

Join us tonight Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center for
BioArt in the Public Sphere Coalesce Report from the Artist-researchers in Residence #6: Emma Akmakdjian, Daniela Brill Estrada, & Walker Tufts

Thursday May 9, 2024 @ 6:00 PM
Location: Hallwalls Contemprary Art Center • 341 Delaware Ave, Buffalo, NY

Emma Akmakdjian is an interdisciplinary artist studying complex systems to better understand historical divides of nature and culture. Her mixed media and fiber art adopts socio-cultural, ecological and psychological perspectives that recontextualize climate change and the ocean.

In collaboration with particle physicists, researchers of the origin of life and astrobiologists, daniela brill estrada’s work is focused on de-hierarchizing matter and eliminating binary western taxonomies and categories, particularly that of life-non-life.

Walker Tufts makes games and sculptures that explore the messy borders between science and storytelling and playfully situates players in relation to others, human and more-than-human, especially dirt.

Coalesce, a unit of the Department of Art and part of the UB Genome, Environment and Microbiome Community of Excellence, is a hybrid studio-laboratory facility located on UB’s North Campus. Coalesce is dedicated to enabling hands-on creative engagement with the tools and technologies of the life sciences.

This event is is part of the worldwide LASER Talks series supported by Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology and is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Torn Space Theater, University at Buffalo Department of Art, and UB Genome, Environment and Microbiome Community of Excellence.

For more information, contact Paul Vanouse, Director of Coalesce Center for Biological Art, at [email protected], or visit buffalo.edu/gem/coalesce.

Leonardo LASER Talks



Daniela Brill Estrada Walker Tufts

Please join the Department of Art and Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts for a special convening in Buffalo of FEMeeting Sister Labs: Women in Art, Science and Technology. This 3-day event of local and international artists, scholars, students and community members features panels, workshops and an exhibition.

FEMeeting is driven by the desire to develop and promote a more direct collaboration between women working at the intersection art, science, and technology. The meetings aim to disseminate projects being undertaken by women worldwide and, as a result, to contribute to the development of art-science research methodologies and to the growth of cooperation strategies that can increase knowledge sharing and bring communities closer.

This event is free and open to the public.

For more information on FEMeeting, please visit the official website: https://femeeting.com

FEMeeting: Buffalo is made possible by the UB College of Arts & Sciences, Department of Art, Coalesce: Center for Biological Arts, the Humanities Institute Technoculture Research Workshop, and Leonardo LASER Talks. Organized by Department of Art Faculty and Chair, Stephanie Rothenberg.

.eeting

Using classical still life elements like fruit and instruments, Art and Life students practiced their vanitas skills in the studio. In the lab, the class took a natural scientists’ approach to an expedition and sample collection out in UB’s Letchworth Teaching Forest! As the vernal pools were fruitful, students collected water samples in hopes to find diatoms in the next class. Water sample results coming soon…

Book launch and talk with the author and director of Coalesce, Paul Vanouse!

Difference, Sameness and DNA
Thursday, April 18 @ 7PM
Fitz Books & Waffles
433 Ellicott Street
Buffalo

This book chronicles over two decades of critical, artistic investigations by Paul Vanouse. His bio-media artwork utilizes the tools of the life sciences reflexively, to challenge tropes and cultural politics surrounding DNA, biotechnology, and life itself. DNA has been called a “Truth Machine”, “God’s Blueprint”, the “Code of Codes” and the “Book of Life”. Vanouse’s work explores questions at the heart of such evocative metaphor and hyperbole: how does DNA link us together, how does it differentiate us and how are the grand metaphors, which grant DNA complete centrality, misconstruing the complexity of life. Furthermore, how do technologies of genetic typing and identification fit within a broader cultural and political history of difference making, particularly the construction of race. Melding critical theory, artist’s manifesto, participatory observation and histories of the sciences, this book offers insight into both an artistic practice and the bio-techno-sciences it interrogates.

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-47073-8

Art and Life students getting to know a tulip, inside and out! Students focused on linework and drawing still lifes of tulips in the studio. Then in the lab, they learned all the different parts of a tulip by observations and dissections! Stay tuned for the end of the semester when students reveal their pressings of the dissected tulips…

Biological Arts students getting ready for final projects! Check out these in progress shots of students drawing connections between landscapes, humans, sound and bacteria. A variety of visual and auditorial outcomes, stay tuned for some final project photos!

University at Buffalo students, you can explore the world around you and create with different mediums with ART 331 Art and Life this coming Spring 2024 paired with ART 464, 564 Biological Arts in Fall 2024!

TOMORROW Coalesce Workshop! 5 seats remaining, reserve your spot by emailing [email protected]

What: Natural history and DNA extraction of lichens (Bring your own sample or work with ours)

When: December 1st from 2:00-4:00 PM

Where: 359 Hochstetter Hall

This event is free and space is limited!

Please RSVP at [email protected]

Coalesce is hosting a Fungal DNA Extraction Workshop December 1st from 2pm-4pm!

Get your hands dirty in our lab as you learn how BioArtists use DNA, microbes, and the tools of science to create living artworks that explore life itself.

What: Fungal DNA Extraction Workshop (Bring your own specimens or work with ours! For example, lichens       from fallen branches)

When: Friday, December 1st, 2pm-4pm

Where: Hochstetter 359

This event is free and space is limited!

Please RSVP at [email protected]

Last week in Biological Arts, the class explored the origins of DNA Fingerprinting and how it can be manipulated. Using pGlo DNA and restriction enzymes, the class created images of DNA on a gel with an electrophoresis machine which moves DNA based on their size with electric currents.

University at Buffalo students can take ART 331 Art and Life this coming Spring 2024 semester as a great precursor to ART 464, 564 Biological Arts in Fall 2024!

Introducing our fifth and final Spring 2024 resident: Karolina Żyniewicz!

Karolina Żyniewicz is a Berlin-based artist and researcher with a PhD in cultural sciences. She calls herself a liminal being because her work is “in-between” art, biotechnology, humanities, and anthropology.

The existence of matter means automatically plotting stories. In her project, “Signs of the Times”, collecting Biological Traces and Memories, Żyniewicz examines this concept through practice by noting, articulating, or translating stories plotted by material traces of the time from the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically looking at medical masks.

Read more about Karolina Żyniewicz and her project on our residents page: https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residents.html

and her personal site: http://www.karolinazyniewicz.eu/

Stayed tuned for their arrivals and documentation of our Spring 2024 cohort!

Introducing our next Spring 2024 resident: Tansy Xiao!

Tansy Xiao is an interdisciplinary artist based in New York. Her nonlinear digital installations explore the immense power and inherent inadequacy of language.

Xiao’s project embraces the idea of collaborative agency, it will center around the creation of a non-anthropocentric virtual reality (VR) opera using Unreal Engine and the Open Sound Control (OSC) protocol.

Read more about Tansy Xiao and her project on our residents page: https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residents.html

and her personal site: http://tansyxiao.com

Introducing our next Spring 2024 resident: Herter de Menezes, made up of collaborators Cosima Herter and Marta de Menezes!

Marta de Menezes has been exploring the possibilities modern biology offers to artists. Menezes’ art research activities have been responding to the rising awareness of society about the developments in science and technology.

Cosima does not identify as an artist, per se. She is a storyteller who creates intangible tales that can be brought to form through staged productions

Their project, “I Can’t Live Without You”, is a large-scale, living sculpture installation born inside of a story from a science fiction thriller Herter wrote in 2019.

Read more about Herter de Menezes and their project, on our residents page: https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residents.html

and their personal site: http://martademenezes.com/

Introducing the next Spring 2024 resident: daniela brill estrada!

daniela brill estrada is an artist from Bogotá living and working in Vienna. Daniela's creative process is nourished by her interest in complexity sciences. daniela's work is focused on de-hierarchizing matter and eliminating binary western taxonomies and categories, particularly that of life-non-life.

brill estrada’s project, “Living Alive Life Like”, explores matter at the intersection of geochemistry and biochemistry and artistically explores its structures and relations.

Read more about daniela brill estrada and her project on our residents page: https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residents.html
and her personal site: https://www.danielabrillestrada.com/

Introducing one of five residents coming to Coalesce Spring 2024: Emma Akmakdjian!

Emma Akmakdjian is an interdisciplinary artist who translates climate data and system processes into interactive installations to dissolve barriers between nature and culture. Her work focuses on mariculture and marine ecologies, taking inspiration from her experience as an AAUS scientific scuba diver.

Akmakdjian’s project, “Borderline between Psychosis & Creativity: Three Generations of Artistic Inheritance” will explore the connection between mental disease and creativity.

Read more about Emma Akmakdjian and her project on our residents page: https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residents.html and her personal site: https://www.emmaakmakdjian.com/

TOMORROW, September 21st, from 12:30pm - 2:50pm join us for a walk through Letchworth Woods! Open to the community and UB students, come stop by!

• What: Woods Walk through Letchworth Woods
• When: Thursday, September 21st at 12:30pm
• Where: Meet at Hochstetter 359, then 10 minute walk to Letchworth Woods

All photos taken by in Letchworth Woods! Join us to see for yourself!

from our lab manager this photo was taken at Letchworth State Park and these salamanders can also be found at Letchworth Woods!
We have a woods walk this Thursday, the 21st, from 12:30pm - 2:50pm. Meet us at Hochstetter 359 to head over and hopefully find baby salamanders!
——
Blue-spotted salamander complex, Letchworth State Park

This Thursday, September 21st, from 12:30pm - 2:50pm join us for a walk through Letchworth Woods! Discover the wilderness of the woods with the BioArt class. Open to the community, come stop by!

What: Woods Walk through Letchworth Woods
When: Thursday, September 21st at 12:30pm
Where: Meet at Hochstetter 359, then 10 minute walk to Letchworth Woods

All photos taken by in Letchworth Woods! Join us to see for yourself!

Applications due June 20, 2023
We accept 2–3 residents (or collaborative teams) per academic year. A residency is active for the entire year, however actual periods in residence will vary and should be mutually agreed upon by Coalesce and the artist. Residencies span a minimum of one month and we encourage residents to stay for two or three months as they will likely be learning many new techniques and biological experiments often require long incubation periods. UB is committed to diversity and inclusivity and encourages applicants from traditionally under-represented groups to apply. Each resident (or collaborative team) will receive technical support, access to laboratory equipment, an artist fee of $1500, up to $1000 in laboratory materials and supplies, and up to $1,000/month for up to two months ($2,000 maximum) toward travel and accommodation costs. Link in bio for more info and to apply.
Learn more and apply at https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residency-application.html

Residency application's for our 2022-23 residency are due June 10th, you can learn more here:
https://www.buffalo.edu/genomeenvironmentmicrobiome/coalesce/projects-and-residencies1/residency-application.html

This Friday, one night only, Coalesce artist/researcher-in-residence Rae Yuping Hsu Hsu will present 水土𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳/𝘚𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵不服 !!

水土𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳/𝘚𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵不服 is THIS FRIDAY MAY 6! How do science, technology, and art coincide? Explore the rich creative work of Taiwanese artist Rae Yuping Hsu, whose research in microbiology and observations of identity lead to singular sculptures, performances and installations where science and art converge.

水土𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳/𝘚𝘰𝘪𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵不服 is a performative installation offering readings on the microbiopolitics of the movement of bodies across lands.
Presented in collaboration with University at Buffalo’s Coalesce: Center for Biological Art.

ONE NIGHT ONLY. 7pm at Torn Space Theater, 612 Fillmore Ave Buffalo, NY 14212.

Tickets $10, get 'em here: bit.ly/WaterSoilDiscontent_TIX


Image: Hsurae.

University at Buffalo Art Galleries University at Buffalo - Department of Art Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center UB Arts Collaboratory

Today at 4pm! Paul Vanouse, Professor of Art and Director of the Coalesce Center for Biological Art will be presenting our next GEM Work-in-Progress talk. Details to join the discussion are available below and at: http://buffalo.edu/gem/wip.

On Monday, February 28th at 4pm, join us via Zoom for our next GEM Work-in-Progress talk with Paul Vanouse, Professor in the Department of Art & Director of the Coalesce Center for Biological Art! Details below and at: http://buffalo.edu/gem/wip

“Labor,” a biological art project by Paul Vanouse that uses bacteria to recreate the smell of human sweat, was named one of 10 winners in the art and science category at international science competition Falling Walls 2021.

The annual event, which coincides with the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, showcases the work of scientists from around the world. Scholars are recognized across 10 categories that range from the life sciences to science engagement for entries that explore the theme of breaking walls in science and society.

Judges will whittle down the 10 art and science entries to one Science Breakthrough of the Year in Art and Science award. If selected, Vanouse will present his work to a global audience at the Falling Walls Conference on Nov. 9 in Berlin, Germany.

Part of the article written by Marcene Robinson. More information: buffalo.edu/news/releases/2021/08/013.html

Repost from
•
One of the things that I think the whole cryptoart discourse made clear this year is the importance of stating what you are *for* and not just what you are *against.*

For over a year now, I've been working with Paul Vanouse (my fellow Buffalonian and friend and OG media art legend) on an exhibition that tells an important story about art and technology and that supports and amplifies artists who deserve to be centered, including .studio (and a few not on Instagram).

It's called " : Technology and Identity in Contemporary Art." It will be here in Buffalo at the 's Northland campus from October 16, 2021--January 16, 2022.

This show is obviously indebted to ***many*** scholars and activists working in Science and Technology Studies, Critical Race Theory, and their intersections, among other disciplines. We are building a comprehensive bibliography for our website this summer to cite that work.
But the show's framework equally emerges from the works of the artists who are in it (as well as from Paul's own practice). This critical dialogue about technology--specifically how it relates to our collective identities and systemic inequities--didn't start yesterday, and artists have been at the forefront of it.

We’re all hoping that this show contributes to conversations here in Buffalo and beyond about the aesthetic and social potential of technology. And we're definitely looking forward to welcoming everyone (including you?) this fall :)

https://www.albrightknox.org/art/exhibitions/difference-machines-technology-identity-contemporary-art

🚨 Hello friends of biological art 🚨

This is a friendly reminder about the last few days to apply for the artist residency 2021/2022 at Coalesce! Applications will be received by June 1, 2021.