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THINKING ATOMS                                                                                                                      TELEPRESENCE AND BIO ART

19 APRIL 2006                                                                                                                                                 24 JANUARY 2006
EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER                                                                                                                      EDA, UCLA ART|SCI CENTER

What happens when artists are in                                                                                                 Eduardo Kac’s work reveals the
dialogue with a Tibetan monk, a                                                                                                  alternately poetic, political, personal,
nanoscientist and a neuroscientist?                                                                                              and philosophical approaches by which
                                                                                                                                 the artist examines contemporary life
Science can prove that there are billion                                                                                         and speculates on our collective future.
times a billion atoms in a grain of                                                                                              After an introduction contextualizing
sand, and show that if we reduced our                                                                                            his pioneering telepresence work—in
body to a solid mass of neutrons and                                                                                             process since the mid-1980’s—Kac gave
protons, it would result to a hundredth                                                                                          examples and further discussed his
of a thickness of human hair. Even                                                                                               current transgenic work.
there, string theories question this
atomistic view. When we go beyond the                                                                                            Kac has integrated many disciplines
visible realm, we enter into non-                                                                                                to present an imaginative view of
materialism and yet the interpretations                                                                                          art’s relevance to the contemporary
can still be abstracted from the human                                                                                           world—a view which has firm roots in
condition and remain materialistic.                                                                                              the artist’s background in philosophy
At the same time, this space of                                                                                                  and literature. He is internationally
“nothingness” is a natural meeting                                                                                               recognized for his unique artwork, which
place for art, science, philosophy                                                                                               focuses on the relationships between
and spirituality. This symposium was                                                                                             humans, animals, machines and different
joined by an extraordinary meeting of                                                                                            life forms.
the minds to ponder how this new age
of global communication systems, nano                                                                                            The presentation included a discussion
and biotechnology is transforming our                                                                                            of “GFP Bunny” (Alba, the green rabbit)
perception of reality.                                                                                                           and “Move 36,” Kac’s work that was shown
                                                                                                                                 at Gwangju Biennale, Korea, and Biennale
PARTICIPANTS: Chuni Lobsang Jinpa                                                                                                de São Paulo, Brazil. A book signing and
Rinpoche (Lama Reincarnate, Gaden                                                                                                special sale followed the lecture.
Shartse Monastic College) / Roy Ascott
(theoretician, artist, director,
Planetary Collegium UK) / Sigi Hale
(neuroscientist, co-founder, Mindful
Awareness Research Center UCLA) /
Barbara Fields (director, Association
for Global New Thought) / James
Gimzewski (nanoscientist, Department
of Chemistry CNSI Pico Lab UCLA) /
Ven Lama Phuntsho (translator, Gaden
Shartse Monastic College). Moderated by
Victoria Vesna.

ARTIST ART+ACTIVISM COLLABORATION COMMUNITY EDUCATION LECTURE PUBLICATION RESEARCH RESIDENCY ROBOTICS MIXER SYMPOSIUM ||||       ARTIST ART+ACTIVISM COLLABORATION COMMUNITY EDUCATION LECTURE PUBLICATION RESEARCH RESIDENCY ROBOTICS MIXER SYMPOSIUM ||||
     || SPRING SUMMER FALL WINTER ||||| 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 ||||| UCLA CNSI DMA BEYOND |||||  ||||| SPRING SUMMER FALL WINTER ||||| 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 ||||| UCLA CNSI DMA BEYOND ||
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