As part of the artist-in-residence program KLAS – “Knowledge Link through Art and Science” – the Max Planck Institutes of Colloids and Interfaces and of Molecular Plant Physiology for the first time invite contemporary artists to develop their own projects at the Potsdam-Golm Science Park (Germany) and the University of Groningen (The Netherlands). A prestigious jury has selected the projects submitted by Agnes Meyer-Brandis (Germany) and by the duo Otavio Schipper and Sergio Krakowski (Brazil). The artists will now be able to collaborate with scientists from the participating institutes in the much-discussed research field of synthetic biology.
In the course of this eight month pioneering project, artists will work side by side with researchers in order to develop a new artwork bridging contemporary art practices and scientific research.
After launching an open call and receiving almost 200 projects from 36 different nationalities a jury of renowned professionals from both the field of Science and Art have selected the projects submitted by Agnes Meyer-Brandis (Germany) and the duo Otavio Schipper and Sergio Krakowski (Brazil). The three of them are now invited to explore their practice within another community. The artists have a long history of working in-between art and science and have presented their projects in different centers and institutions worldwide. Their work has also been recognized internationally with a long list of awards.
Enthusiastic at the news, the artists have already offered snippets of insight in their future prospects. Meyer-Brandis is looking forward to work in an international team of SynBio experts: “I’m already thrilled to investigate how trees can walk to escape climate change. In the long run, this joint venture could create one small step for a man and one giant leap for a tree”.
Schipper and Krakowski are aiming to establish a certain kind of communication between human beings and bacteria through sound: “We strongly believe that focusing on the DNA content of both humans and bacteria can be a central source of inspiration for our work (…) This common denominator raises several poetic layers of interpretation and strongly relate to our previous artistic works founded in the concepts of information and coding”.
Such interdisciplinary encounters are particularly powerful to bridge the gap between disciplinary fields and provide a new look into scientific tasks and working methodologies. Trying to look beyond predefined categories and critically re-examining traditionally established disciplinary divisions, KLAS’ main goal is providing an additional fresh insight into the field of Synthetic Biology, a thriving field at the interface between physics, chemistry, molecular cell biology and engineering.
Knowledge Link through Art and Science (KLAS) is an Artist-in-Residence program of the Max Planck Society. KLAS fosters ArtSci exchange and transdisciplinary innovation and education whilst also establishing a link between Synthetic Biology research groups of two research institutions - Rijksuniversiteit Groningen [RuG] and two Max Planck Institutes [MPIKG & MPIMP]. KLAS is funded by the Max Planck Society and the Schering Foundation and organized by Polyhedra.
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