BIO*FICTION: Science.Art.Film Festival

“Hot Cling, Shear Magic, and the Mouthfeel of Capitalism: Images From the History of Ultra Processed Foods”
April 10 - 17 at the ArtSci Gallery on the CNSI 5th floor. LINK to directions

In a set of advertisements exhumed from back issues of industry trade journals in food engineering from the 1960s through the 1990s, this exhibit explores the values and the chemistry of an otherworldly scene in which there are no lumps, inconsistencies, or bubbles. Emulsifiers, clouding agents, gums, thickeners, anti-foaming agents, and antioxidants ensure that the marshmallows remain eternally fluffy, the particles are all the same size, mixtures never separate, and the sauce stays on top.
Curated by the Hot Cling and Shear Magic Research Group, a team of UCLA undergraduates led by Professor Hannah Landecker, pied piper of the grim joy of historical excavation of apparently banal but terribly consequential social and technical events shaping our biological lives. The team, composed of undergraduates majoring in Human Biology and Society and Psychobiology, is comprised of Xian Zeng, Nicole Vasquez, Emily Sutherland, Kianna Satari, Manasi Sastry, Chloe Nelson, Max Kokka, Kiana Karimi, Rayna Irving, Sara Herron, Xavier Herrera, Haley Ficker, Lea Dahlke, and Shelsy Aragon.

Hannah Landecker, with a Ph.D. in Science and Technology Studies from MIT and a B.Sc. in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of British Columbia, uses the tools of history and social science to study contemporary developments in the life sciences, and their historical taproots in the twentieth century.
She has taught and researched in the fields of history of science, anthropology and sociology. At UCLA she is cross-appointed between the Institute for Society and Genetics, and the Sociology Department. She is currently working on a book called “American Metabolism,” which looks at transformations to the metabolic sciences wrought by the rise of epigenetics, microbiomics, cell signaling and hormone biology.
Landecker’s work focuses on the social and historical study of biotechnology and life science, from 1900 to now. She is interested in the intersections of biology and technology, with a particular focus on cells, and the in vitro conditions of life in research settings.

Featured speaker: Hannah Landecker
Responder Patricia Olynyk
Chaired by Victoria Vesna
This LASER is connected to the exhibition opening at the UCLA ArtSci gallery at CNSI – developed by Professor Hannah Landecker with her students: "Hot Cling, Shear Magic, and the Mouthfeel of Capitalism:
Images From the History of Ultra Processed Foods"
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION: http://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1709
Guest responder is artist Patricia Olynyk, who is a fellow of the UCLA Art Sci Medicine & Media Arts initiative: https://medicineandmediaarts.com

About LASER Talks:
Leonardo/ISAST LASER Talks is a program of international gatherings that bring artists, scientists, humanists and technologists together for informal presentations, performances and conversations with the wider public. The mission of LASER is to encourage contribution to the cultural environment of a region by fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and opportunities for community building to over 50 cities and 5 continents worldwide.
MORE INFO https://leonardo.info/laser-talks\

https://soc.ucla.edu/person/hannah-landecker/
Patricia Olynyk is an artist, writer, and educator whose work explores science and technology-related themes and the ways in which social systems and institutional structures shape our understanding of our place in the world. She is the former director of Washington University’s Graduate School of Art and the Florence and Frank Bush Professor in Art. She holds a courtesy appointment in WashU’s School of Medicine and fellowships in the Institute for Public Health and Living Earth Collaborative, both interdisciplinary hubs that facilitate research across a wide range of fields.
MORE INFO
https://patriciaolynyk.com

In the second week of April, we were privileged to welcome Patricia Olynyk, a fellow of the UCLA Art Sci Medicine & Media Arts initiative, as a visiting lecturer at the UCLA ArtSci Center. Olynyk's multifaceted artistic practice, which includes photography, printmaking, video, and installations, scrutinizes themes related to science and technology, as well as the influence of social systems and institutional frameworks on our perceptions of our place in the world. As a respondent to Hannah Landecker's lecture at the LASER event on April 10th in the CNSI Presentation Room, Patricia Olynyk shared her insights on “ULTRA PROCESSED HEALTH”.

Patricia Olynyk is an artist, writer, and educator whose work explores science and technology-related themes and how social systems and institutional structures shape our understanding of our place in the world. She is the former director of Washington University’s Graduate School of Art and the Florence and Frank Bush Professor in Art. She holds a courtesy appointment in WashU’s School of Medicine and fellowships in the Institute for Public Health and Living Earth Collaborative, both interdisciplinary hubs that facilitate research across a wide range of fields.

MORE INFO
https://patriciaolynyk.com