[-empyre-] Fourth Industrial Revolution and DIY

[High, Kathy]

Hi Soyo and Renate.
Soyo - I have been following your Korea-Bioart listings on Facebook and it
is such a vital community that has developed in Seoul. It is really
impressive (and sometimes the on-line translation of the Korean is pretty
weird!). You posts have been a real source of research as you mine FB, the
workshops and labs of other diy bio groups, artists, etc.Thank you for
this shared resource.
I, too, would love to hear more about the Lifeforms as Culture
space/press. As you know I am an avid supporter of alternative spaces and
independent presses. Btw, The Sanctuary for Independent Media
(mediasanctuary.org) has been growing in leaps and bounds since you left
Troy. And we are building our own citizen science space at present! You
must come visit.
Many thanks, Kathy

On 4/03/2017, 11:29 AM, "empyre-bounces at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au on
behalf of Renate Terese Ferro" <empyre-bounces at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
on behalf of rferro at cornell.edu> wrote:

>----------empyre- soft-skinned space----------------------
>
>Welcome to -empyre- Soyo.
>Wonderful to hear you were one of Kathy¹s students at nearby Troy, NY.
>Your account of moving to Seoul and setting up a DIY lab in your kitchen
>in the middle of Seoul is an absolutely incredible story.  I can imaging
>now your kitchen with the kimchee refrigerator filled with biological
>tissue.  What a wonderful description you have written of the working
>space and environment you have provided for us.  I know many of my own
>students return to Seoul and feel the pressure to go into design oriented
>fields.  You seem to have resisted that trend and I¹m wondering if the
>³Fourth Industrial Revolution² initiative by the government has helped to
>nurture niche. DIY interventions into art and technology?  Is there an
>entepreneurial spirit within this DIY community or is it more of a
>resistance.  I am hoping to travel to Korea again soon and I hope that I
>can visit you and so many others that are doing this kind of work.
>Hoping that is is within the year or so.
>
>Hope you will post more within the next few days not only about your work
>but about the new publication.  Thank you.  Renate
><snip>
> I collaborate with other makers and independent researchers from all
>fields of art-science-technology rather than just Œbio¹ people, because
>our number is so small and we need solidarity. At the start of this year,
>I started an independent press + artist-run-space called Lifeforms in
>Culture to publish and exhibit artist research projects. The type of
>techniques I can perform in this setting is rather low tech and primitive
>at the moment, but I also feel the information and resources I can access
>and share as a regular citizen is expanding as I workŠWe are seeing more
>citizen-run maker labs and open labs each year, and institutional
>scientists or professional engineers are sharing protocols and materials
>through online and offline platfoms. Just last month, young bio-medicine
>students and researchers in Seoul held a meeting called the ³Mad
>Scientist Festival². It was a self-organized Pecha Kucha night in which
>anyone interested in the biological sciences do a 2-minute presentation
>about their work. The event brought together about 150 participants
>talking about their research as well as various issues they encounter
>within academia. I hope this Œmovement¹ will continue to expand upon an
>independent spirit, but funding is always the biggest issue as a lot of
>our work rely on government grants.
><snip>
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>Renate Ferro
>Visiting Associate Professor
>Director of Undergraduate Studies
>Department of Art
>Tjaden Hall 306
>rferro at cornell.edu
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>empyre forum
>empyre at lists.artdesign.unsw.edu.au
>http://empyre.library.cornell.edu