Emergence: A Convening
Two inspired days of learning, exchange and co-creation at the nexus of art, culture and our biological futures
October 24-25, 2023, at the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center and the Walt Disney Concert Hall Founders’ Room
“The field of synthetic biology, offering “the creation of new living systems by design,” has the power to expansively transform life as we know it. Art and artists, too, have always had a special power to change us. Where do the transformative powers of art and synthetic biology intersect?”
On October 24th and 25th, Fathomers brought together artists and scientists from around the world for Emergence: A Convening. Organized around two days of presentations and dialogue at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center in Los Angeles, the convening explored questions regarding what forms of new life we will cultivate and encounter; the ancient roots of the human cell; the quest for immortality; the increasingly cyborgian nature of the “wise human,” Homo sapiens; and more.
Presentations were moderated by writer and neuroscientist Dr. Yewande Pearse. On the final evening of the convening, Fathomers, the Science and Entertainment Exchange—a program of the National Academy of Sciences—the AfroRithm Futures Group, and special guest Dr. David Sun Kong presented “AfroRithms SynBiosis,” a collaborative world-building game at the Walt Disney Concert Hall Founders’ Room. Participants explored ideas and technologies from the field of synthetic biology while being challenged to imagine the biofutures they want to live in.
Presenters at Emergence: A Convening included AfroFuturist scholar Dr. Lonny Avi Brooks, U.S.; Dr. Marie Bannier-Hélaouët from the Organoid Group at the Hubrecht Institute, Netherlands; multimedia sculptor Michael Jones McKean, U.S.; Eduardo Padilha from BioLiloLab, Brazil; Pat Pataranutaporn from the MIT Media Lab, U.S.; Henry Tan from FREAK Lab, Thailand; artist and education activist Corinne Okada Takara, U.S.; Nina Woodruff-Walker from the Museum of Children’s Art, U.S.; Dr. Ionat Zurr, artist and founder of SymbioticA, Western Australia. They were joined by the Fathomers' board of directors and members of the LA arts community.
This program was made possible with support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and Getty Foundation through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative. Fathomers is one of 45 cultural, educational, and scientific institutions throughout Southern California to receive support from the Getty for their projects, which will result in dozens of simultaneous exhibitions and programs focused on the intertwined histories of art and science in fall 2024.
DOCUMENTATION
ABOUT EMERGENCE: A GENEALOGY
The emerging field of synthetic biology, which has the power to expansively transform modern life, offers an urgent opportunity to confront the innovative nature and “wisdom” of the “wise human” Homo sapiens. What forms of life will we choose to cultivate moving forward? What will we nurture, and what might we leave behind, whether by choice or by accident? Where does agency reside in this new moment of making, learning and living with? Emergence: A Genealogy invites the public to explore these questions together, inspired by iconic bio artworks, new lab-based discoveries and design solutions, and a range of wildly creative thinkers serving as embodied prompts, guides and provocateurs.
Emergence: A Genealogy is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.