Transgenic Food Test Lab
opening
CAE is a collective of five artists of various specializations dedicated to exploring the intersections between art, technology, critical theory and political activism. Beatriz da Costa is a robotic artist and an associate researcher at the Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to collaboration with CAE on the GenTerra biotech initiative, she is developing theoretical and practical models for contestational biology.
The Transgenic lab is the latest CAE's "biotech initiative," Over the past five years, this artists' collective has produced a number of significant works on biotechnology and its new forms of representation. They use the tools and materials of genetic research to critically examine the foundational assumptions and truth claims of this science. Each of these performances employs biological materials, standard lab practices and direct audience participation. Produced in consultation with experts from genetic medicine, plant biology and robotics. They include: Flesh Machine (1998), The Society for Reproductive Anachronisms (1999), Cult of the New Eve (2000), and GenTerra (2001).