Eduardo Kac
Encyclopedia
Eduardo Kac is an American contemporary artist
internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
. He lives and works in Chicago.
In 1997, Kac was the first person to have a microchip
implanted in his body. He did this in the context of his work "Time Capsule
", intending it to be a form of social commentary
, claiming that it causes us to consider the relationship between people and technology. He put the microchip in the lower part of his leg, on his ankle.
When he was at Telematic Connections (where his work was being exhibited) he mentioned that the reason he chose this spot on his body was that it was where slaves were often branded
. The work he had on exhibit was entitled, Teleporting an Unknown State, a piece in which Kac enables a plant in a dark room to grow with light sent around the world through the Internet by remote participants.
and genetics
to create provocative works that concomitantly explore scientific technique
s and critique them. Kac's first transgenic artwork, titled "Genesis"' involved him taking a quote from the Bible
(Genesis 1:26 - "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth"), transferring it into Morse code
, and finally, translating that Morse code (by a conversion principle specially developed by the artist for this work) into the base pairs of genetics.
After obtaining the genes from a laboratory which creates genetic sequences on demand, he implanted the genes into an unspecified bacterium, which he then grew in a petri dish
. This petri dish was placed in a box under an ultraviolet light
(UV) which could be activated by online viewers, who could see Genesis by webcam. Kac intended to present the viewer with a philosophical problem
, a dichotomy
: If the viewer disagrees with allowing man to have dominion over nature as the quote from the Bible suggests, then in order to destroy the idea (i.e. activate the UV light which causes mutation in the genes, thereby altering the statement), he must assert his own power over nature, thereby in a way contradicting himself. A viewer with the opposite viewpoint would have the opposite-but-equally-problematic dilemma
.
, Kac commissioned a French laboratory to create a green-fluorescent rabbit
; a rabbit implanted with a Green Fluorescent Protein
(GFP) gene
from a type of jellyfish
. Under a specific blue light, the rabbit fluoresces green. "The PR campaign included a picture of Kac holding a white rabbit and another, iconic image of a rabbit photographically enhanced to appear green." In 2000, Alba was presented in Avignon, France. Kac's aim was for Alba to live with his family, but prior to the scheduled release of Alba to Kac, the lab retracted their agreement and decided that Alba should stay in the lab.
Whether Alba is alive today remains an open question. GFP plants, fish, and mammals have been long-term residents of science laboratories
. The GFP gene is typically used as a type of marker, that, when attached to a separate genetic modification or gene, illustrates where that symbiotic
gene manifests in the organism. However, Kac used GFP as a social marker, in a symbolic (not scientific) manner, to raise questions about how society constructs the idea of difference. Notably, since Alba's conception, GFP zebrafish have hit the commercial market under the trademarked name, GloFish
.
Kac, in response to the laboratory's retraction of Alba's liberty, flies a flag outside of his home, sporting a silhouette of a green rabbit.
In his 1998 manifesto on Transgenic Art, Eduardo Kac proposed to use GFP to create a fluorescent dog "GFP K-9". This project never came to fruition.
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
internationally recognized for his interactive net installations and his bio-art. Kac was born in 1962, in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
. He lives and works in Chicago.
In 1997, Kac was the first person to have a microchip
Microchip implant (human)
A human microchip implant is an integrated circuit device or RFID transponder encased in silicate glass and implanted in the body of a human being...
implanted in his body. He did this in the context of his work "Time Capsule
Time capsule
A time capsule is an historic cache of goods or information, usually intended as a method of communication with future people and to help future archaeologists, anthropologists, or historians...
", intending it to be a form of social commentary
Social commentary
Social commentary is the act of rebelling against an individual, or a group of people by rhetorical means, or commentary on social issues or society...
, claiming that it causes us to consider the relationship between people and technology. He put the microchip in the lower part of his leg, on his ankle.
When he was at Telematic Connections (where his work was being exhibited) he mentioned that the reason he chose this spot on his body was that it was where slaves were often branded
Human branding
Human branding or stigmatizing is the process in which a mark, usually a symbol or ornamental pattern, is burned into the skin of a living person, with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent. This is performed using a hot or very cold branding iron...
. The work he had on exhibit was entitled, Teleporting an Unknown State, a piece in which Kac enables a plant in a dark room to grow with light sent around the world through the Internet by remote participants.
As an artist
Kac considers himself a "transgenic artist," or "bio artist", using biotechnologyBiotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
and genetics
Genetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
to create provocative works that concomitantly explore scientific technique
Scientific technique
A scientific technique is any systematic way of obtaining information about a scientific nature or to obtain a desired material or product.Scientific techniques can be divided in many different groups, e.g.:# Preparative techniques...
s and critique them. Kac's first transgenic artwork, titled "Genesis"' involved him taking a quote from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
(Genesis 1:26 - "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth"), transferring it into Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
, and finally, translating that Morse code (by a conversion principle specially developed by the artist for this work) into the base pairs of genetics.
After obtaining the genes from a laboratory which creates genetic sequences on demand, he implanted the genes into an unspecified bacterium, which he then grew in a petri dish
Petri dish
A Petri dish is a shallow glass or plastic cylindrical lidded dish that biologists use to culture cells or small moss plants. It was named after German bacteriologist Julius Richard Petri, who invented it when working as an assistant to Robert Koch...
. This petri dish was placed in a box under an ultraviolet light
Ultraviolet
Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
(UV) which could be activated by online viewers, who could see Genesis by webcam. Kac intended to present the viewer with a philosophical problem
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
, a dichotomy
Dichotomy
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts, meaning it is a procedure in which a whole is divided into two parts...
: If the viewer disagrees with allowing man to have dominion over nature as the quote from the Bible suggests, then in order to destroy the idea (i.e. activate the UV light which causes mutation in the genes, thereby altering the statement), he must assert his own power over nature, thereby in a way contradicting himself. A viewer with the opposite viewpoint would have the opposite-but-equally-problematic dilemma
Dilemma
A dilemma |proposition]]") is a problem offering two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable...
.
GFP Bunny
In what is probably his most famous work, AlbaAlba (rabbit)
Alba was the name of a genetically modified "glowing" rabbit created as an artistic work by contemporary artist Eduardo Kac based on one of the experiments with rabbits led by French geneticist Louis-Marie Houdebine....
, Kac commissioned a French laboratory to create a green-fluorescent rabbit
Rabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
; a rabbit implanted with a Green Fluorescent Protein
Green fluorescent protein
The green fluorescent protein is a protein composed of 238 amino acid residues that exhibits bright green fluorescence when exposed to blue light. Although many other marine organisms have similar green fluorescent proteins, GFP traditionally refers to the protein first isolated from the...
(GFP) gene
Gene
A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...
from a type of jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
. Under a specific blue light, the rabbit fluoresces green. "The PR campaign included a picture of Kac holding a white rabbit and another, iconic image of a rabbit photographically enhanced to appear green." In 2000, Alba was presented in Avignon, France. Kac's aim was for Alba to live with his family, but prior to the scheduled release of Alba to Kac, the lab retracted their agreement and decided that Alba should stay in the lab.
Whether Alba is alive today remains an open question. GFP plants, fish, and mammals have been long-term residents of science laboratories
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
. The GFP gene is typically used as a type of marker, that, when attached to a separate genetic modification or gene, illustrates where that symbiotic
Symbiosis
Symbiosis is close and often long-term interaction between different biological species. In 1877 Bennett used the word symbiosis to describe the mutualistic relationship in lichens...
gene manifests in the organism. However, Kac used GFP as a social marker, in a symbolic (not scientific) manner, to raise questions about how society constructs the idea of difference. Notably, since Alba's conception, GFP zebrafish have hit the commercial market under the trademarked name, GloFish
GloFish
The GloFish is a patented and trademarked brand of genetically modified fluorescent zebrafish with bright red, green, orange-yellow, blue, and purple fluorescent colors...
.
Kac, in response to the laboratory's retraction of Alba's liberty, flies a flag outside of his home, sporting a silhouette of a green rabbit.
In his 1998 manifesto on Transgenic Art, Eduardo Kac proposed to use GFP to create a fluorescent dog "GFP K-9". This project never came to fruition.
External links
- Eduardo Kac's website
- Kac's Bio Art
- Kac's Interactive Works
- Kac's books, videos and multiples
- Kac's Media Poetry and Language Art
- Signs of Life: Bio Art and Beyond (MIT Press/Leonardo Books)
- Al Jazeera English interview on YouTube
- Podcast interview with Eduardo Kac
- Eduardo Kac interview on Digitalarti Mag
- Telematic Connections