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Kosmica mex
- 1. Andy Gracie
- 2. hybrid ecosystem installations Discovering and exploring information networks and shared emergent behaviours between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial’ organisms and intelligences Technologised life / living technology - not as a ‘thing’ but as a system or a process Introducing the intelligent machine or system as a variable symbiont or parasite
- 6. cognitive and perceptual boundaries Illustration from The Seven Mysteries of Life by Guy Murchie
- 7. astrobiology Astrobiology seeks to understand the origin of the building blocks of life, how life affects and is affected by the environment from which it arose, whether and how life expands beyond its planet of origin, and what is the potential for life in other parts of the universe.
- 8. proxy
- 9. units
- 12. biopan 6
- 13. foton
- 15. titan QuickTime™ and a Photo - JPEG decompressor are needed to see this picture.
- 16. titan in the imagination
- 18. huygens
- 20. xanadu_1
- 21. xanadu_1 QuickTime™ and a mpeg4 decompressor are needed to see this picture.
- 24. perfection
- 25. speciation BSC and the species problem Observed instances of speciation 57 years of darkness
- 26. Yuri Gagarin gene - CG31732
- 27. criteria for selection experiments temperature: -179º Celsius pressure: 1.5 x Earth; 21.2 bar atmosphere: 98.4% nitrogen, 1.4% methane, 0.2% hydrogen. (orange in colour) day/night cycle: 15 days 22 hours gravity: 0.14g
- 30. QuickTime™ and a decompressor are needed to see this picture.
- 31. individual - gen 28
- 33. Andy Gracie hostprods.net hostdev.wordpress.com
Editor's Notes
- hybrid installations, hermetically sealed micro informatic ecosystems that were often interpreted as post-humanist. Its an interesting analysis but i consider it fairly obvious that my work is very much about humanity, and especially our place within ecological systems, our relationships with nature and what and where those conditions might be in the future. It is also very much, now, about what life actually is, and what the boundary states for it might be.
- the hybrid, artificial, post natural, closed ecosystem ideas eventually led me to the position of disconnecting from the terrestrial context altogether. Ideas of these space colonies and vast migration ships embodied for me the extreme limits of this position, but also presented relevant questions about what would be necessary for humans and other terrestrial organisms to survive if we left the earth out of desire of necessity at some point in our future.
- utopian space colony ideas of the 70s coincides with launch of pioneers and voyagers
- as earlier works embodied a relationship between robotic sensing platforms and organic life i began to look into the idea of space exploration robots, the probes and landers we have been sending into space for over 50 years, as extensions of our sensory and perceptual network. So the fact that we have sent a large number of probes, orbiters and landers to the moon, the sun, other planets and their moons, and onwards to the very edge of the solar system has effectively pushed our perceptual and cognitive boundaries to a distance of 18,500,000,000km and expanding at more than 15km every second – thanks to Voyager 1, the furthest out of these machines. These machines, especially the landers, have a rich subtext of looking for signs for life or of suitability for life, and this has become especially explicit with the curiosity rover that landed on mars almost exactly one year ago. The first genuine inter-planetary astrobiology lab.
- so these machines, seen as part of our sensory cortex are pushing back our perceptual and cognitive boundaries at a remarkable rate. The horizon of knowledge and the horizon of mystery are moving outward in parallel and our understanding and knowledge of the conditions in their wake become increasingly rich. 17th and 18th centuries when space was extended von leeuwenhoek in 1674 seeing what he called animalcules through his single lens microscope galileo in 1609 looking upwards through his telescope and realizing there are lofty mountains and deep valleys on the moon blaise pascal's mingled wonder and horror at the realization that we are poised between 2 abysses; the invisible atomic world with its infinity of universes and the invisible cosmos, too big to see
- the science of astrobiology is a relatively new field that joyfully unites biology, physics, astronomy, chemistry, geology, mathematics and a range of other diverse branches of science. It needs to do this because the questions it asks are fundamental – what is life? How does it happen? Under what conditions can it arise and survive? How must we broaden our definition of what life is and what it consists of? Where and how should we look? By answering questions about life and its origins on earth it allows us to imagine what else might be 'out there' classes of organisms known as extremophiles, organisms that live in acidic, or salty, or hot, or extreme pressure, that would be fatal to other organisms – reveal to us that the range of conditions for life is greater than we first thought, and that we must be more open minded when looking for other potential habitats.
- I am also developing a project based on the various Mars rovers, from the little Sojourner to the twins Spirit and Opportunity. The idea of these machines as a proxy for our own explorations frames the fact that we are currently incapable of doing what they do and being where they are. Poignantly show us that all our experience of the wider solar system is ours but only second hand. The telerobotic nexus is rich in content but poor in immediacy and intimacy. A reflection of lifestyles lived via the mediation of technology. Experience via proxy.
- units 1508 and 3482
- i have made several pieces of work that respond to the themes of astrobiology, expanded cognitive boundaries, space probe data and future organisms, and i'm showing 2 of them in soft control out there in the village. Deep data prototype _1 is the first in a series of works which use space probe data to manipulate cultures of organisms used extensively in space bioscience. In this instance tardigrades – a polyextremophile – is exposed to recreated magnetic fields recorded by the Voyager 2 probe on its 35 year journey through the solar system. I'm interested in the reappropriation of astrobiological data and processes to make the experiments that NASA and ESA are not doing. These are non-empirical experiments, the data is less important that the observation and the process of questioning. The engagement of the mind with the possibilities and narratives of strange creatures in strange environments more important that the acquisition of knowledge. There is also the notion of collapsing of scales To that end the aesthetics of the works employ the DIY nature of lab improvisation to confuse the notion of artistic beauty.
- i have made several pieces of work that respond to the themes of astrobiology, expanded cognitive boundaries, space probe data and future organisms Deep data prototype _1 is the first in a series of works which use space probe data to manipulate cultures of organisms used extensively in space bioscience. In this instance tardigrades – a polyextremophile – is exposed to recreated magnetic fields recorded by the Voyager 2 probe on its 35 year journey through the solar system. I'm interested in the reappropriation of astrobiological data and processes to make the experiments that NASA and ESA are not doing. These are non-empirical experiments, the data is less important that the observation and the process of questioning. The engagement of the mind with the possibilities and narratives of strange creatures in strange environments more important that the acquisition of knowledge. There is also the notion of collapsing of scales To that end the aesthetics of the works employ the DIY nature of lab improvisation to confuse the notion of artistic beauty.
- tardigrades are one of the few organisms, along with lichens, that have survived exposure to raw space, flying on the ESA and russian space agency FOTON/Biopan missions. Some became the first animals to return alive after exposure to both space vacuum and solar radiation, in fact the space vacuum and cosmic radiation did not affect their survival or reproduction at all. This was true for both Richtersius coronifer and Milnesium tardigradum. What this means is that these animals can either protect their cells from expected damage of the extremely dehydration impact of space vacuum, or that they can repair damage that arise in some way. Some of the samples were exposed to solar light (UV-radiation) in addition to space vacuum and cosmic radiation, different optical filters to discriminate between the combined effect of UV-A and UV-B (280-400 nm), on one hand, and effects of the full spectrum of UV, including also UV-C and Vacuum-UV (116-400 nm). Obviously, UV-radiation is difficult to handle also for tardigrades, since few animals survived these exposures. But one of the species, Milnesium tardigradum, did better than the other, and about 12 % of those exposed to UV-A and UV-B managed to recover, although their egg production was lower than in the control animals that stayed on Earth. Also a few specimens exposed to the full UV range woke up and tried to get their bodies in shape again, but failed and died a few days later.
- i developed an obsession with saturn's largest moon, titan., and started making things like dioramas and other investigative processes. Titan is defined as the most earth like place that we know of – despite the astonishing acceleration in the rate of exoplanet discovery. Titan has a dense atmosphere, a liquid cycle, continents and seas and lakes. The downside is that there is no oxygen and the temperature rarely rises above 180 degrees C below 0.
- Giovanni Domenico Cassini (June 8, 1625 – September 14, 1712) Cassini is known for his work in the fields of astronomy and engineering. Cassini most notably discovered four satellites of Saturn - Iapetus and Rhea in 1671 and 1672, and Tethys and Dione (1684) - , and noted the division of the rings of Saturn.
- Christiaan Huygens (14 April 1629 – 8 July 1695) was a prominent Dutch mathematician and natural philosopher. He is known particularly as an astronomer, In 1655, Huygens proposed that Saturn was surrounded by a solid ring, and using a 50 power refracting telescope that he designed himself, Huygens also discovered the first of Saturn's moons, Titan Huygens entered Titan's atmosphere at 10:13 UTC on January 14, 2005 and landed approximately 2.5 hours later in what was named the xanadu region. the aim of the mission was mostly gather data as it descended through the atmosphere, with the added bonus of the possibility of a brief transmission from the surface. in fact huygens continued to operate, collecting and transmitting information for a full 90 minutes. Huygens Atmospheric Structure InstrumentDoppler Wind ExperimentDescent Imager/Spectral RadiometerGas Chromatograph Mass SpectrometerAerosol Collector and PyrolyserSurface Science Package - The SSP contained a number of sensors designed to determine the physical properties of Titan's surface at the point of impact, whether the surface was solid or liquid
- aims to create a series of dioramas of the landing area of huygens and the lake areas being mapped by cassini. moving steadily towards cryogenic temperatures and the recreation of the exotic hydrocarbon chemistry of the atmosphere and the surface. Experiments have shown that with an atmosphere similar to that of Titan and the addition of UV radiation, complex molecules and polymer substances like tholins can be generated. In October 2010, Sarah Horst of the University of Arizona reported finding the five nucleotide bases—building blocks of DNA and RNA—among the many compounds produced when energy was applied to a combination of gases like those in Titan's atmosphere. Horst also found amino acids, the building blocks of protein. On April 3, 2013, NASA reported that complex organic chemicals could arise on Titan based on studies simulating the atmosphere of Titan some scientists have stated that certain chemical ratios and reactions found on titan are characteristic of biochemical processes of microbioal terrestrial life-forms.
- aims to create a series of dioramas of the landing area of huygens and the lake areas being mapped by cassini. moving steadily towards cryogenic temperatures and the recreation of the exotic hydrocarbon chemistry of the atmosphere and the surface. Experiments have shown that with an atmosphere similar to that of Titan and the addition of UV radiation, complex molecules and polymer substances like tholins can be generated. In October 2010, Sarah Horst of the University of Arizona reported finding the five nucleotide bases—building blocks of DNA and RNA—among the many compounds produced when energy was applied to a combination of gases like those in Titan's atmosphere. Horst also found amino acids, the building blocks of protein. On April 3, 2013, NASA reported that complex organic chemicals could arise on Titan based on studies simulating the atmosphere of Titan some scientists have stated that certain chemical ratios and reactions found on titan are characteristic of biochemical processes of microbioal terrestrial life-forms.
- Despite the obvious physical differences between fruit flies and humans, much of our current understanding of human physiology, metabolism, gene expression, development, neurobiology, and even our understanding of ageing is a direct result of Drosophila research. Surprisingly, fruit flies and humans have much in common. We share the same genes for development and for energy metabolism. Even our nervous systems use identical growth factors and neurotransmitters. By studying these insects we learn about ourselves. about a year and a half ago, i began a project called 'Drosophila titanus' is an ongoing project which through a process of experimentation and artificial selection aims to breed a species of fruit fly that would be theoretically capable of living on Saturn's largest moon Titan. While being a virtually impossible project to 'successfully' complete, 'Drosophila titanus' sites itself as a process within the ongoing discourse surrounding the complex relationships between art and science. By necessity the project needs to adhere to a rigourous scientific methodology, however it endeavours to extract artistic metaphor, poetry and ambiguity from these apparent creative restrictions. Concurrently the work embraces several interwoven narratives and concepts related to issues of species, artificially created organisms and the disquieting quest for biological perfection. What interests me most in this project is the relationship between art and science itself. I'm one of those that doesn't share the vision of a blissful future where art and science are united in a beautiful search for poetic truths. Rigorous scientific practice by its nature restricts the poetry, metaphor and ambiguity on which art thrives – however in this project i wanted to see just how much of these traditional artistic qualities i can adhere to while maintaining the necessary rigor to keep the work meaningful.
- there is also the idea that by using the process of selecting genetically driven traits through artificial selection i'm following the same train of thought that saw it necessary to come up with monsters like this.
- artificial selection, and controlled breeding for perfection has obvious parallels with the central idea of social darwinism and its extreme expression in eugenics. social darwinism and survival, or triumph, of the fittest. mostly associated with politically driven attempts at racial perfection. however, modern scientific techniques in genetic modification and cloning, the possibility of designer babies, combined with the current social and political obsessions with perfection and achievement - a form of voluntary eugenics - mean that the notion of seeking the biological ideal still carries danger. The right stuff Eugenics is bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to the manipulation of human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance - the way in which hereditary traits are passed from parent to offspring - and the theories of the german evolutionary biologist August Weismann. The great darwinian and populariser of science, ernst haeckel also treated darwin's theories as social law, and drew great distinction between the 'lower races' of aboriginal australians and africans and the 'more developed' western europeans. Francis Galton - younger cousin of Darwin - worked a lot on the theory of domestication of animals and pretty much began the study of the field of eugenics as a follow on from his ideas and observations about the improvement of domestic animals. almost makes it sound reasonable “man is gifted with pity and other kindly feelings; he also has the power of preventing many kinds of suffering. i conceive it to fall well within his province to replace natural selection by other processes that are more merciful...” maybe the fact that i am using an imperfect strain for my breeding stock, and that i still love all the other strains of drosophila however flawed or not they may be, absolves me from the accusation of being a eugenesist in this work.... or maybe not...
- as i'm referring to the possibility of creating a new species here i also come up against what it known as 'the species problem' – the fact that there is no universal agreement on what actually defines how we distinguish one species from another. Varieties of species concepts include folk, biological, morphological, genetic, paleontological, evolutionary, phylogenetic and biosystematic definitions. Currently the Biological species concept BSC is the preeminent theoretcal model, despite still being constantly reviewed and argued. There are also a number of documented instances of artificial speciation, under laboratory conditions, in plants, animals and of course drosophila. Most of these speciation events have been defined by the point at which individuals will no longer mate. An interesting example of observed genetic and behavioral change is that of Syuichi Mori and his dark bred flies. In 1954, Mori, a biologist at Kyoto University, put flies into a cave of their own, rearing 3 lines in total darkness. Over the years two of the dark-bred fly lines died out but Mori managed to keep the last line of flies alive in the dark, and after his death, other Kyoto researchers kept the flies going. And today, they are still living in the dark, 57 years since their ancestors last saw light. That’s 1400 generations–which would be some 30,000 years if it were humans living in dark. when eventually the researchers began to take a closer look at the flies found a major difference: when kept in the dark, dark-bred flies laid 373 eggs, plus or minus 20. Ordinary flies laid 293 eggs, plus or minus 73. Somehow, in other words, the dark-bred flies had become better at breeding in the dark. When they sequenced the genome of the dark-bred flies and compared it to a genome from normal relatives. They found 220,000 spots in the genome where the DNA had mutated (a single nucleotide polymorphism). In addition, there were 4700 places where a stretch of DNA had been inserted or deleted. Many of these may not have had any effect on the flies, but they did find that, a gene for a light receptor had acquired a particularly devastating change called a nonsense mutation, which prevents the fly from making a functioning protein. A gene involved in metabolism disappeared. The scientists also looked for stretches of DNA that showed signs of having experienced natural selection. Each fly carries two copies of each chromosome, and each chromosome is sprinkled with its own set of mutations. Here and there, however, the DNA on the chromosomes is identical. This close matching is sometimes the result of genes spreading quickly through a population thanks to natural selection. The scientists found 241 new mutations in these identical stretches–potentially giving the flies an advantage in the dark. One of those genes is involved in breaking down toxins. The scientists speculate that flies ordinarily use light to help break down toxins. The dark flies may have evolved a way to do so without the light.
- yuri gene drosophila researchers like to give amusing names to genes they identify The Drosophila melanogaster gene yuri gagarin was first identified in a screen for aberrant behavioral responses to the mechanosensory stimulus provided by the force of gravity. yuri gagarin gene has a role in gravitaxic responses. it also plays a role in giant sperm production. nasa/trek sex and space
- another aspect to this project, is that i am using vestigal wing – one of many lab or natural phenotypic mutants. This has tiny wings and cannot fly, making it much easier to culture and keep. Apparently in the thick atmosphere and low grav of titan a human could strap on cardboard wings and fly. I like to think that also on titan i could give flight back to the vestigal wing drosophila.
- Researchers in the Czech Republic have discovered a way to make drosophila larvae resistant to freezing by examining strategies of the subarctic fly Chymomyza costata. These insects survive by controlling ice crystal formation through entering diapause, a hormonally regulated state that halts development. Drosophila are able to enter a similar but non-hormonally regulated state called quiescence. Rapid freezing to sub zero temperatures instead of a gradual process seemed to be key to the avoidance of damaging ice crystal build up. The researchers also observed that the amino acid proline could act as a form of cryoprotectant. 61% of drosophila larvae which had been fed a proline rich diet survived -5ºC for 30 minutes and grew into viable adults. Only 6% of those without the proline diet survived the freezing. Quiescence was induced through subjecting the flies to a “fluctuating thermal regime” (cycling between 6° C and 11° C over 3 days). Proline is one of the amino acids that can be synthesised by the organism itself and is derived from L-glutamate. The amino acid and its derivatives are often used as asymmetric catalysts in organic reactions. L-Proline is an osmoprotectant – allowing organisms to survive osmotic stress – and therefore is used in many pharmaceutical, biotechnological applications. In brewing, proteins rich in proline combine with polyphenols to produce turbidity.