a speculative research project that explores the role that synthetic biology may play in planetary-scale geoengineering and weather modification practices in the future. This artwork builds on the tradition of treating the genetic sequences as a computational and mutable database for artistic expression. Presented as a multi-modal installation centered around visualization of Pseudomonas syringae and its ice nucleating ability.
This was presented at
- ISEA Montreal. “Life: A Sensorium” curated by Janine Marchessault and Melanie Wilmink. October 2020 (Virtual).https://sensorium.ampd.yorku.ca/isea-2020/
- Gregg Museum of Art and Design, NCSU. Art’s Work in the Age of Biotechnology. Oct 2019 – March 2020. Curated by Hannah Star Rogers/”https://research.ncsu.edu/ges/arts-work-in-biotech/artwork/Tech Art Fair, Ontario Science Centre. 2019.
Gallery: Computational Animations by Ong and Natalie Plociennik – artistic renderings of the biological processes of the P. syringae (acrylic plexiglass print)
Gallery: Hunt Library installation, as part of “Art’s work in the Age of Biotechnology” (2019-20). The sound component is a set of parametric speakers that move corresponding to the x –y coordinates of the artificial cloud animation. The screen shows an animation of cloud formation based on a particle dataset collected from an icicle laboratory (Stephan Morris) at the University of Toronto. A plant positioned nearby is seeded with genetically modified (non-pathogenic) bacteria – condensation droplets in the cube are filled with the poetry-infected bacteria.