Project: ALTER NATURE – MY BIOLOGICAL (R)EVOLUTION

„The mission of Z33 house for contemporary art is to make visitors look at everyday life in a new way. Through projects and exhibitions Z33 artists confront visitors with impressions and experiences that encourages them to look differently at everyday aspects of life. Z33 initiated the project “Alter Nature: My Biological Revolution”, where students from the Media, Arts and Design faculty in Limburg worked together with students and faculty members of BioSCENenter, The Leuven Center for Bio-Science, Bio-Engineering and Bio-Technology. This inter-disciplinary approach led to stunning results based on shared knowledge and close co-operation between the diverse teams. Most impressive: ‘My bacteria rings’, a work of jewelry designer Sofie Boons and Phd students in Bioengineering Lyn Venken and Hanne Tygat. This project has generated a number of new ideas by creating a totally different perspective of jewelry design and of scientific thinking. The collaboration of the Media, Arts and Design faculty and the BioSCENter Leuven will continue on other projects and Z33 as a unique laboratory and meeting place for experiment and innovation will be the forum, as well as the mediator to present these works. The concept is highly innovative, with boundary breaking at different levels: between different organisations, between disciplines (faculties), science, art and design and the broader public. Developments in scientific research are presented to the public in a creative way, students share knowledge and learn to approach things from different perspectives, and the region Limburg can demonstrate its innovative potential to other regions of the world.“
Jury Member: Angelica Kaus, University of Groningen, Netherlands

“This is an interesting collaboration, exchange of ideas and dialogue between young designers, scientists and technologists. The key to this project was the genuine desire to understand and learn from each other in order to move to the next stage. The knowledge transfer - whether it was practical or simply the development of new ways of thinking was to be applied to further projects. The biological rings was one example. I liked this project as it developed the concept and re-inforced the necessity of collaboration in the development of any new product or initiative in the modem world. Introducing and developing this concept to young, scientists, designers and technologist was highly valuable and productive. It will undoubtedly have a positive impact on their future careers.”
Jury Member: Sandra Gunn, Sandra Gunn, Curriculum Director of the City of Glasgow College, Great Britain

Describe your collaborative partnership

In Alter Nature: My biological (r)evolution, Z33 brought together students from the Media, Arts and Design (MAD) faculty (Limburg area) with students and faculty members from the KULeuven BioSCENTer during a semester long project about the possibilities and practices of altering nature. MAD students were introduced into the world of synthetic biology via presentations and lab visits at BioSCENTer (www.z33.be). During follow-up speeddating sessions, students exchanged ideas and discovered their mutual practices. Teams from MAD and BioSCENTer students worked on joint art and design projects which culminated in an exhibition in Z33.

This show was part of Alter Nature (Sep 2010 – June 2011), a research and exhibition project on how we can and do change nature, and how this changes our view of the world. The project consisted of 5 exhibitions showing the work of 50 international artists and designers and a symposium (www.alter-nature.be).

Provide evidence of your success

This collaboration led to innovative design projects like ‘My bacteria rings’ from jewelry designer Sofie Boons and scientists Hanne Tytgat and Lyn Venken (mad-sofieboons.posterous.com).

The success of the collaboration between KULeuven and MAD was however also continued in a more longterm collaboration: KULeuven incorporated two designers, Stefan Habets and Chris Muller from MAD in their 2011 iGEM team. iGEM is the ‘International Genetically Engineered Machine’ competition, an undergraduate Synthetic Biology competition held yearly at MIT. The team is working on bacteria that can either create or prevent the formation of ice crystals (2011.igem.org).

This collaboration shows that the joining of two disciplines using a bottom-up multidisciplinary approach, is breaking up the boundaries of specialization and leading to the generation of new innovative ideas and applications

• Studio / Agency: www.z33.be
• Client: www.kuleuven.be/bioscenter
• Presentation:  ALTER NATURE – MY BIOLOGICAL (R)EVOLUTION (5.47 MB)