Tag Archives: Ai Weiwei

What’s in your DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)? an art auction at Christies

For this item, I have David Bruggeman’s Sept. 24, 2015 posting on his Pasco Phronesis blog to thank,

As part of a fundraising project for a building at the Francis Crick Institute, Christie’s will hold an auction for 30 double-helix sculptures on September 30 (H/T ScienceInsider).

David has embedded a video featuring some of the artists and their works in his posting. By contrast, here are a few pictures of the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) art objects from the Cancer Research UK’s DNA Trail page,

For our London Art trail, which ran from 29 June – 6 September 2015, we asked internationally renowned artists to design a beautiful double helix sculpture inspired by the question: What’s in your DNA? Take a look at their sculptures and find out more about the artists’ inspirations.

This one is called The Journey and is by Gary Portell,

DNA_The Journey

His inspiration is: “My design is based on two symbols, the swallow who shares my journey from Africa to England and the hand print. The hand print as a symbol of creation and the swallow reflects the traveller.

This one by Thiery Noir is titled Double Helix Noir.

DNA_DoubleHelixNoir

The inspiration is: For this sculpture, Noir wanted to pay tribute to the memory of his former assistant, Lisa Brown, who was affected by breast cancer and who passed away in July 2001, at the young age of 31 years old.

Growing Stem is by Orla Kiely,

CNA_GrowingStem

The inspiration is: I find inspiration in many things, but especially love nature with the abundance of colourful flowers, leaves, and stems. Applying our multi stem onto the DNA spiral seemed a natural choice as it represents positivity and growth: qualities that are so relevant for cancer research.

Double Dutch Delftblue DNA is by twins, Chris and Xand van Tulleken.

DNA_DoubleDutchDelftblue

The inspiration is: The recurrent motifs of Delft tiles reference those of DNA. Our inspiration was the combination of our family’s DNA, drawing on Dutch and Canadian origins, and the fact that twins have shared genomes.  (With thanks to Anthony van Tulleken)

Ted Baker’s Ted’s Helix of Haberdashery,

DNA_TedsHelixOfHaberdashery

Inspiration is: Always a fan of spinning a yarn, Ted Baker’s Helix of Haberdashery sculpture unravels the tale of his evolution from shirt specialist to global lifestyle brand. Ted’s DNA is represented as a cascading double helix of pearlescent buttons, finished with a typically playful story-telling flourish.

Finally, What Mad Pursuit is by Kindra Crick,

DNA_WhatMadPursuit

Inspiration is: What Mad Pursuit explores the creative possibilities achievable through the intermingling of art, science and imagination in the quest for knowledge. The piece is inspired by my family’s contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA.

Aparna Vidyasagar interviewed Kindra Crick in a Sept. 24, 2015 Q&A for ScienceInsider (Note: Links have been removed),

Kindra Crick, granddaughter of Francis Crick, the co-discoverer of DNA’s structure, is one of more than 20 artists contributing sculptures to an auction fundraiser for a building at the new Francis Crick Institute. The auction is being organized by Cancer Research UK and will be held at Christie’s in London on 30 September. The auction will continue online until 13 October.

The new biomedical research institute, named for the Nobel laureate who died in 2004, aims to develop prevention strategies and treatments for diseases including cancer. It is a consortium of six partners, including Cancer Research UK.

Earlier this year, Cancer Research UK asked about two dozen artists—including Chinese superstar Ai Weiwei—to answer the question “What’s in your DNA?” through a sculpture based on DNA’s double helix structure. …

Q: “What’s in your DNA?” How did you build your sculpture around that question?

A: When I was given the theme, I thought this was a wonderful project for me, considering my family history. Also, in my own art practice I try to express the wonder and the process of scientific inquiry. This draws on my backgrounds; in molecular biology from when I was at Princeton [University], and in art while going to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

I was influenced by my grandparents, Francis Crick and Odile Crick. He was the scientist and she was the artist. My grandfather worked on elucidating the structure of DNA, and my grandmother, Odile, was the one to draw the first image of DNA. The illustration was used for the 1953 paper that my grandfather wrote with James Watson. So, there’s a rich history there that I can draw from, in terms of what’s in my DNA.

Should you be interested in bidding on one of the pieces, you can go to Christie’s What’s in your DNA webpage,

ONLINE AUCTION IS LIVE: 30 September – 13 October 2015

Good luck!

David Bruggeman has put in a request (from his Sept. 24, 2015 posting),

… if you become aware of human trials for 3D bioprinting, please give a holler.  I may now qualify.

Good luck David!

The Space, a new digital museum opens with an international splash

Erica Berger in a June 14, 2014 article for Fast Company provides a fascinating account of a project where Arts Council England, the BBC, Open Data Institute, and other cultural groups partnered to create: The Space (Note: Links have been removed),

This Space is no final frontier. Rather, it’s just begun as a new place for digital and experimental art.

A free and public website aimed at discovering the best emerging digital artistic talent around the world, The Space opened yesterday and is launching with a weekend [June 14 – 15, 2014] hackathon hosted by the Tate Modern in London, a first for the formidable institution. Born from a partnership between Arts Council England, the BBC, Open Data Institute, and other cultural groups, it’s “a gallery without walls,” says Alex Graham, chair of The Space. The Space is putting out an international open call for projects, the first round of which is due July 11. The projects will be funded by the partnering groups with amounts ranging from £20,000 (about $34,000) to £60,000 ($101,000) for an individual commission, and up to 50% of the total cost. Each Friday, new collaborations will launch.

Among the first installations are pieces from high-profile artists, including Marina Abramovic, who broadcasted live on the site at midnight last night, and Ai Weiwei, who has an interactive piece on The Space. There will also be a live, Google hangout theater project with actors in London, Barcelona, and Lagos and directed by Erin Gilley.

The Space can be found here,

About The Space

The Space is a free website for artists and audiences to create and explore exciting new art, commissioned by us and shared around the Whole Wide World.

We commission new talent and great artists from all art forms, creative industries, technical and digital backgrounds, through Open Calls and partnerships. The Space is one of the most exciting places on the internet to find new art to explore and enjoy.

An open call was launched on June 12, 2014,

The Space launches first Open Call
Posted … on 12 June 2014

The Space Open Call is looking for original, groundbreaking ideas for digital art. We are encouraging artists to take risks and do crazy things with technology!

This is a great opportunity for artists to be bold, ambitious and experimental, creating a work which can communicate wi people round the World via mobile, tablets and desktops.

We are seeking artists working across a range of art forms and industries including, creative and digital, technology and coding, art and culture sectors, to pitch the very best original ideas to the Open Call.

If you have an idea for The Space, please go to thespace.org/opencall and complete the online form before the closing date: 12 noon (GMT) 11 July 2014.​

Organizers have produced an inspirational video for this call,

I don’t know if this offer is still available (from Erica Berger’s Fast Company article about The Space) but here it is,

Sign up to be one of the first 10,000 newsletter subscribers to The Space and receive a free digital work of art from Turner Prize winner Jeremy Deller.

I availed myself of the offer at approximately 1000 hours PDT, June 16, 2014.