the final panel of Subtle Technologies was dedicated to the workshop on tissue culture that took place the week before the festival. here are a few pictures. below: the participants shared their impressions. Most participants confirmed the difficulty implied with working with biological material. it takes a long time, continuous […]

In a world where we understand technologies as means to an end, that is as “tools” that “do something” or that “help us solve problems,” Nicholas Stedman’s “Blanket” is a special case. His blanket does not fulfil any repetitive, conventional task, nor does it maintain any cold distance with the […]

In some way, medical artist Irene Healey  continues the discourse about the public perception of science as she provides a few –often omitted–remarks. When we think about the body in relation to technologies or to medicine, we always imagine a body that is abused, manipulated, taken advantage of, or, worse, […]

A very short break gives me just enough time to hop on my bike and reach Interaccess, Toronto Electronic Arts Centre, to attend the opening of the exhibition “Whose Body Is It, Anyway?” curated by artist/curator Camille Turner (below)     Should the illegal traffic of organs regularized? if you […]

I don’t know how many of you have ever watched ReGenesis, a recent Canadian-based tv series that dramatizes some of the accomplishments, discoveries and challenges of today’s science by making a group of scientists working for a science lab the main protagonists. the new version of CSI? ER? apparently, the […]

In addition to Oron Catts and Stuart Bunt, a number of artists who had spent some time at the lab were present among the presenters as well as among the audience. their artworks often succeed in stirring debates, in raising awareness and in revealing often-unpleasant details  that lie behind scientifically […]

Scientific director of Symbiotica Stuart Bunt addressed some of the latter issues 9see previous article) in his presentation. He described the relation between artists and scientists working at SymbioticA as a “productive friction”  and, nonetheless, as a relation between equals. however, the dynamics that make an environment like SymbioticA, affiliated […]

a considerable section of Subtle Technologies was dedicated to the work taking place at SymbioticA. As part of  the School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Austrialia, SymbioticA offers residencies to artists and other individuals who wish to conduct research and engage in wet biology practices. Important to […]

this is another–quite ironic–ppt picture from Amos, our Master of Ceremonies

Judging from the titles of the presentations, today’s symposium promises to introduce some intriguing, as much as controversial, issues that shed  light and challenge traditional assumptions of science and medicine, look at the commercialization and strumentalization of scientific discoveries and denounce  phenomena seldom acknowledged by Western society (because they reveal […]

The Festival offerings incorporated a series of performances and exhibitions that enriched, while further illustrating, some of its themes. the first appointment is tonight, with a series of performances features very dissimilar approaches to the medicalized body and its relation with the machine. Claudia Witmann’s  performance imagines the language of […]

In a number of ways, this last day of symposium appears to pay special attention to  public accessibility, the relation with and the perception of science. The recent exhibitions launched by the Ontario Science Centre (an agency of the government of ontario) show its mandate as informer and educator. This […]

as the festival enters its second day, I thought I would ask Jim Ruyxton, programming director and founder, to give me some impressions on its accomplishments. what do you like best? how much did you accomplish in the past few years? this is his answer, which, really,  renders full well […]

again, the afternoon presented quite a vast and diverse range of examples of how new and old technologies, science and art are intimately entangled at different levels and serving a number of purposes. These were some of the protagonists of the afternoon: Community based creative expressions with the purpose of […]

before proceeding with this exhausting and incredibly intense journey into the festival, I wish to spend a few words about our master of ceremony: Amos Letteier. his task is to introduce each  presenter  and to  fill the time in-between presentations (to allow technical preparations and some leg-stretching). As his main […]

  Ontario College of Art and Design, 8:00 pm. Moderated by Toronto artist and curator Sally McKay, the panel featured microbiologists Abigail Salyers and Michael Schmidt in conversation with artists Oron Catts of Symbiotica and the duo Jennifer Willer and Sean Bailey from Bioteknica. To a fairly concise introductory talk […]

as more advanced technologies and science breakthroughs are introduced –supposedly–to ease our diseases or improve the quality of our lives, we also have to come to terms with the transformations they have gradually brought to the way we see life and death, the way the relation doctor/patient, health/illness, individual/health institution […]

  As May is coming to a quick end, I am ready for my annual appointment with Subtle Technologies Festival. This is a special year, as the festival approaches its 10th anniversary. To celebrate this achievement, no better topic could be chosen: the Festival title for this year is “In […]