SUNDAY 16TH FEBRUARY 2003

BIOTECH INTERCHANGE - INTRODUCTIONS

An intensive three day debate project and gathering point for professionals interested to delve deeper into the research area of bio-technology, alongside a public programme of events in Colchester.

The Bio-Tech InterChange involves a diverse group of PARTICIPANTS working in/with biology, neuroscience, art, dance, music, video, web, installation, technology, cybernetics, genetics.

Group process, moderation and documentation by the Future Physical Team with guest mentors:

• Nina Czegledy - Canada
• Sara Diamond - Canada
• Daniel Glasier - UK
• Jane Prophet - UK

The AIMS of the Bio-Tech InterChange are threefold:

• To extend and enable deeper knowledge of the methods of collaboration in practice today between artists and science.
• To mentor a group of developing practitioners through contact and exchange with mature professionals
• To determine a list of needs and requirements for onwards positive evolutions of inter-arts and science projects.

14.00hrs - 17.30hrs: ICE-BREAKER SESSION

• Learn about two or three areas linked to working groups and demo presentations - collaboration processes between artists and science.

• Learn more about what we want to do, help each other move forward in new and right ways.

• Leading to articulating the needs and requirements for bio-tech development linked to futhering development of artist/scientist collaborations.

• Draw from participants interests and skills areas in terms of content development for the InterChange.

Today is about getting to know each other - different ways - within the InterChange programme:

• keynote talks
• demo presentations
• working groups
• open/social networking

The Bio-Tech InterChange Keynote Talk on the marriage between biology and technology by Sara Diamond (Canada) together with the demo presentations by Future Physical commissioned and Guest artists provide the context for evolving content lines for debate within the working groups.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were asked about their AREA OF WORK and their CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS

Job roles

• Process director
• Interdisciplinary artist
• Artist
• Neuroscientist
• Philosopher/photographer/scientist
• Choreographer
• Anti gravity artist
• Physical performer
• Dancer
• VJ/Multi media artist
• Neurobiologist
• Digital artist
• Arts administrator/artist
• Media Artist/curator
• Artist/cross disciplinary
• Mathematician/musician
• Artist/musician
• Dance tech producer
• Production/technician
• Computer technician
• Video production/finance
• Musician/web producer
• Development/documentation
• Bio chemistry student/volunteer
• Architect/VJ/Video documentor
• Technical Manager

Cultural Background

• English
• Black british
• Londoner
• Hong Kong Chinese
• Welsh/English
• Welsh/Scottish/Irish/English
• English/Welsh
• Londoner(italian/Slovene)
• French
• English/Irish
• English
• English/Jewish/Israeli
• English
• French
• English/European
• Spanish/English
• Chile/South American
• Canadian Dutch
• English
• Mongrel Jewish/New York City
• Hungarian/Canadian
• British(Irish/Welsh/Scots)
• English/Italian
• English

IDENTITY - who are you/am I?

Participants were invited to contribute to share information on personal identity and who we are linked to the shifting shape of identity in the field of biotech.

Identity breaks down into physical - body itself - and issues of subjectivity - consciousness, emotions, body/mind relationship - how we are made up from the base of being born and experience through.

What is important to you - how you define yourself?

• Work in general
• Biotech project
• Social you
• Personal you

Work in General
Time. Memory. Performance. Physical

• Into education and development. Communications
• Mathematics
• Visual.site specific. Complex systems (AI). Collaboration.
• Interdisciplinary/international/multi role
• Privileged working life - come up with ideas about projects and framework to bring people together - social scientists/artists/skills in synthesis not specific/deep knowledge
  Across disciplines and with scientists/ artist led group
• Media and remixing media. New cultural contexts
• Combine understanding of human and physical expression, bio background
• Anti gravity work.performance. presence
• Dancing and choreographing
• Chemistry, medical market research
• Music/audio into video and internet , architecture and urban design
• Classical training. Butcher when left school. Body as sound and image resource/sourcing place
• Mathematician, cognitive science, neurobiologist, brain scanning what things are like. Public engagement with science.Science/art - opposed to concept
• Finding my feet
• New business, web devl, arts company management
• Workaholic. Architecture background . Push it. Left field. Image thief.
• Creating things around peoples emotions.
• Lots of work - working across many different projects
• Passion, diversity of work I love
• dance background and into dance tech
• Student. Biomedical science. Overlap between arts and science
• Own films, collecting stories in a fun way.
• Main work is future
• Curator and organiser but do not know why? Like working with people and developing projects. Interest in relevance in the project and dynamic dialogue that takes place - stuff - public. Ask questions as well as run projects.
  Body base, dance background, identity, telepresence, virtual/physical body: touch, intimacy and presence

Biotech Project

• RememberMe photobooth project
• Cell - online virtual environment on stem cell research
• Digitised body project
• Research project - Temporal manifestation - 3D movie
• British Antartic Survey
• Memory Release - motion capture/hanging body/video - visual memory
  And energy centres of the body
• Genomixer -identity
• Shock - video, book, essay
• Psychological experiment using brain imaging - what is it like to see something if you can do it versus what you cannot do - hypnos
  Ultra light weight structures - eg eden project - meld architecture and visuals. Secondary school in Southwark - biggest optical art installation in world.
  Ashma inhalers.
• Telepresence, remote connections, virtual and physical bodies
• Cluster development via shinkansen - touch and intimacy and presence - connecting with bodies at a distance
• Cell - how do we understand discovery? Meaning of being involved in a process, portraiture, physical ways of viewing someone else's face.
• Future Physical: telematics line, Cellbytes, Architecture projects, live VJ and Live telematics and immersion of live and living body. Free form state

Social You

• Not enough time
• Yes I am
• Collaborative and expanding
• Work is a social activity
• Social/ work life- international network
• Social constructivist - wicket martinis -pleasure context
• Flamboyant and singer
• Live my life in clubs and bars - work is my life
• Shy
• Non existent social life right now and usually good/love people/intensity of human experience
• Fuelled by cigs
• Happily shies away from work
• Physical activity
• Integrated and separated virtual/physical
• Art and theory issues but do not go
• Largely uninterlocking groups of social circles, social activist, interaction, collaboration
• Social groups
• Jo, vodka, red and spirals, singing , dancing , spinning and games.
• Mixed with work
• Friends in different areas of arts
• Student social life
• Arts
• Lot of special friends around me
• Leisure time versus work time - melding these things - combined
• Dancing - trance, exstatic side , textures/textiles relevant to time and place

Personal You

• My partner
• Amuse and be amused
• Great personal life
• Third age
• Trace my memories through clothing I wear in my life/blow up tech when in contact/memory deficit/complexity theory in personal life
• Its personal
• My personal me is out there
• Living abroad
• Multiple lives at once - life that transcends
• Father and v happy
• Europhile
• Happy
• Centre of attention, guilt, separate personal life as centre of calm and happiness
• Doing ok at moment
• Hate green peppers and public speaking and beige. Onwards, upwards, forwards.
• Family, son, partner and more physical/spiritual sense of what is oneness
• Happy student
• Family connections
• To live in Australia, came to UK to be a playright, tasks to do not to finish
  40th birthday, single, living on own, political - diversification issues
• Its not the what it's the who!

IDENTITY MAPPING EXERCISE - 5 small groups were created and each looking at what identity is/means. Small working groups moderated by the Bio-Tech Mentors . Outputs of discussion recorded on flip charts by the group documentor.

16/02 GROUP DISCUSSIONS NOTES:-
• IDENTITY - GP 1
• IDENTITY - GP 2
• IDENTITY - GP 3
• IDENTITY - GP 4
• IDENTITY - GP 5