Artist and University of Buffalo media prof Paul Vanouse looks for Thermus Acquaticus bacteria from nearby hot springs while artist and former UNM prof Jon Wenger looks on.

Paul Vanouse’s residency project The People’s PCR help to democratize high end genetic engineering tools. According to Vanouse’s essay about the first time he did this project in Banff, Deep Woods PCR, the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) “is an elegant algorithmic process that allowed Kary Mullis to copy a small region of DNA billions of times, thereby ‘amplifying’ a region, potentially to differentiate individuals. The first great patent of the biotechnological revolution profited Cetus and Roche corporations with the first billion dollar invention. For his discovery, Mullis, along with Michael Smith, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993.”

Paul has devised a way to perform one of the key processes in PCR over a campfire with simple equipment. More details on the Deep Woods link above. What is fascinating to me is Paul’s description of the history and importance of Thermus Acquaticus as an organism that can survive high temperatures and therefore remain living through the PCR process. As far as I can understand, the genes of this organism can be combined with other organisms therefor allowing the PCR process to be used with a variety of living DNA. As you can imagine, this makes Thermus Acquaticus a very valuable species to those that profit from the biotech industry!

Joan Linder shows her beautifully drawn book about the residency process. I hope very much that this becomes published and available.

Paul collaborated with visual artist and Buffalo prof Joan Linder, who created an exquisitely drawn book of the process including trip to three hot springs with their two young sons Lucien and Raphael. Raf even presented his own drawings of the experience!

These two residencies were part of the Neo Rio festival created by Clare Cote and Jon Wenger. The Wild Rivers park where the festival is held is part of BLM land, and thaks to the hard work of Clare and Jon, Paul and Joan’s residency is one of the first BLM hosted residencies ever! They even lived in an apartment on site.

A wind-powered sculpture by Jon Wenger

After the presentation/performance of People’s PCR, Clare and Jon hosted a dinner and breakfast at a Wild Rivers campground in Questa. I got a chance to stay the night in the ‘weasel’, Jon’s wild studio bus that travels into the deep wilds for many weeks at a time with artists to develop work. His wild studio projects started at UNM and were the beginning of the tradition we try to continue with the Art and Ecology program.

Spending a few days in Taos with students and friends to experience Taos day events. So far highlights have been the Earthship tour and The Hand of Man by Christian Ristow.

Justin Nolan, Rachel Cisler and Liz Shores at the Phoenix Earthship

Beautiful chicken coop

We not only toured the Earthships, but saw a film and lecture by Earthship architect Mike Reynolds.

Reynolds explaining the principles of the Earthships

The film explored some of the legal battles Reynolds had to endure to achieve his dream, including losing his license and having to halt production. While initially given permission to build, later political regimes deemed his work illegal and he even faced jail time. Reynolds actually drafted a bill that after several years in legislation has now been accepted that allows him to operate an ‘experimental’ building site. Basically, it’s a law that allows him to do whatever he wants at a building site! Pretty nice!

We also had a tour of Larry Bell’s studio, a NM-LA artist who uses an elaborate macine to coat paper and other materials with a thin metal dust. Although this process is common in industry, Bell is the only artist I know of to use it so extensively. He initially was contracting to companies to do the coating, but then found that if he operated the machine himself he could have more control of the results.

Bell talking with Liz and Rachel

Finally, just to add to the wild west vibe, we saw Christian Ristow’s work which fulfills every little kid’s fantasy. Using a custom glove, viewers can control a giant robotic hand and crush cars. Oh yeah!

Getting ready to crush

ISEA2012 artist Robert Drummond and Ristow

Lift and drop

High five the Hand of Man

San Francisco-based sound artist Jeremiah Moore and friend at his table at the Block Party

My friend Jeremiah created a really cool gps-driven work that involved listening to recordings he created of underground gas drilling in New Mexico (see http://www.basoundecology.org/listen/2012/09/ltg/). Through family contacts in the drilling industry, he mapped the location of the drill sites he found in Farmington to downtown ABQ.

My student Erin Rhodes created a couple of excellent ISEA2012 event slide shows for Temporary Art Review thanks to editor Nancy Zasudil, check them out here:
http://temporaryartreview.com/report-isea2012/
and here http://temporaryartreview.com/report-isea2012-part-2/

Also Adobe Airstream reporter Ellen Berkovitch has some interesting stories online, one about Big Data http://adobeairstream.com/art/rocket-scientists-on-big-data-and-representing-things-the-isea2012-blog/ and a podcast with me http://adobeairstream.com/category/a2-media/#isea2012-electronic-art-meets-humanism-plus-dana-falconberry

Well, the Albuquerque portion of ISEA2012 is over, what a wild ride! Without much commentary because I still need time to process, here are some of my favorite images so far:

Artist Ivan Puig with a member of a local low rider car club after Symphony 505

Hydrolic low rider pumps

During the symphony

Friend and New Zealand artist Nigel Jamieson

SMW resident documentarian Daniel Maestas

Artist and SMW researcher Russ Bauer feeds the masses at the block party

Another one of Russ’s weird loads, multiple layers of hydroponically grown greens in the back of a pickup truck – a moveable feast!

Art car star Harrod Blank and my UNM colleague photographer Adrienne Salinger at Harrod’s Camera Van

The Alvarado Urban Farm featured artist Nina DuBois’ work

A geodesic dome built by Nina broadcasted live sounds of a bee hive combined with conversations with beekeepers. Here artist, Bio-ethics of Beer collaborator and SIU professor Sarah Lewison sneaks a photo

Students of our Creating Change class created a shade structure at the farm, here is Juliet working

Students of my International Festival Practicum class in their cool volunteer shirts listen to a presentation by New Zealand artists Ian Clothier and Jeanine Randerson

My UNM A&E colleague Catherine Harris created ‘Eden Again’, a wastewater system to feed a wetland garden.

Here is her beautiful installation at 100 Gold street

Dancers from Albuquerque Academy interacted with Nina Waisman’s sound installation at the UNM Architecture building as part of the ISEA2012 Residency exhibition.

The PLAND artist-in-residence Mick Lorusso created a bike-powered papercrete mixer

Rhiannon Mercer upstairs at the show she put together at 516ARTS

Curator Andrew Connors in front of Rubin Torres’ work at the Albuquerque Museum show

German artist Hanna Hildebrand finishes her piece at the museum

The glow at the balloon museum gala

NYC based friends and artists Adrienne Wortzel and Ellen Pearlman at the UNM Art Museum opening

My old friend Nigel Jamieson has arrived from AUT in New Zealand for ISEA2012 and as usual we are hatching an evil master plan for collaboration. Bwa ha ha!

He turned me on to an amazing article about 12 levls of nothingness in various Maori cosmologies in realtion to a project he’s doing with radio telescopes, for example:

Te Korekore – a double negative, the Absolute Nothingness.

Te Korekore Te Rawea – the Absolute Nothingness which could Not be Wrapped up.

Te Korekore Te Whiwhia – the Absolute Nothingness which could Not be Bound.

Te Korekore Te Tamaua – the Absolute Nothingness which could Not be Fastened.

Te Kowhao – the Abyss.

Te Pa – the Night.

and

Te Kore, The Nothingness,

Te Po, The Night,

Te Rapunga, The Seeking,

Whaia, Following,

Te Kukune, The Conception,

Te Pupuke, The Swelling,

Te Hihiri, The Elemental and Pure Energy,

Te Mahara, The Subconscious,

Te Hinengaro, The Deep Mind,

Te Manako, The Desire,

Te Wananga, The Wisdom,

Te Ahua, The Form,

Te Atamai, The Shape,

Te Whiwhia, The Possessing,

Rawea, The Being Bound,

Hopu Tu, The Possessing Power,

Hau Ora, The Breath of Life,

Atea. Space

Here’s the original article: http://www.listener.co.nz/cultire/twitch/print I don’t know what to say about this, it is kind of blowing my mind right now. That’s whakapapa.

New Zealand court says, if a corporation can have legal rights of personhood, why not a river? The Whanganui (pronounced Fang-gah-noo-wee) gets those rights.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10830586

Agreement entitles Whanganui River to legal identity
The Whanganui River will become an legal entity and have a legal voice under a preliminary agreement signed between Whanganui River iwi and the Crown tonight.

This is the first time a river has been given a legal identity.

A spokesman for the Minister of Treaty Negotiations said Whanganui River will be recognised as a person when it comes to the law – “in the same way a company is, which will give it rights and interests”.

The agreement was signed on behalf of Whanganui iwi by Brendan Puketapu of the Whanganui River Maori Trust, which represents a group of iwi along the river, and the Crown in Parliament this evening.

Under the agreement the river is given legal status under the name Te Awa Tupua – two guardians, one from the Crown and one from a Whanganui River iwi, will be given the role of protecting the river.

An agreement between the Crown and local iwi on what the values will be in protecting the river are yet to be decided.

A whole river strategy, in collaboration with iwi, local government and commercial and recreational users is still being decided.

An eventual settlement will also include monetary compensation for historical claims.

Minister for Treaty for Waitangi Negotiations Christopher Finlayson said the signing was an historic event.

“Whanganui River iwi have sought to protect the river and have their interests acknowledged by the Crown through the legal system since 1873. They pursued this objective in one of New Zealand’s longest running court cases.

“Today’s agreement which recognises the status of the river as Te Awa Tupua (an integrated, living whole) and the inextricable relationship of iwi with the river is a major step towards the resolution of the historical grievances of Whanganui iwi and is important nationally.

“The agreement does not signify the end of the settlement, but it is a significant step towards settlement. Matters of detail and additional redress will be to be negotiated between the parties,” said Mr Finlayson.

“Whanganui Iwi also recognise the value others place on the river and wanted to ensure that all stakeholders and the river community as a whole are actively engaged in developing the long-term future of the river and ensuring its wellbeing,” said Mr Finlayson.

History of the claims:

* Those parts of the Wai 167 claim relating to the Whanganui River were heard by the Waitangi Tribunal in 1994.

* The Tribunal issued its Whanganui River Report in 1999.

* The Crown vested authority and control of the Whanganui River in local authorities through the Resource Management Act in 1991.

* Negotiations between Whanganui iwi and the Crown in relation to the Whanganui River took place between 2002 and 2004.

* Discussions between Whanganui iwi and the Crown started again in 2009.

* A record of Understanding reached on October 13, 2011 outlined a framework for the next stage of formal negotiations.

* The final settlement including the deed of settlement in relation to the historical Treaty of Waitangi claims of Whanganui iwi in respect of the Whanganui River are yet to be decided.

APNZ by Kate Shuttleworth

Yesterday I presented a 3-minute talk at TEDxABQ, it was a wild ride, from the writing and speaking coaching sessions to dress rehearsals and finally a sold-out show – 750 people at the National Hispanic Cultural Center’s Journal Theater.

Emcee for the day was the super-cool Tim Nisly

Two of the best parts were meeting the other presenters and organizers and learning about their amazing projects and giving away a couple of free passes to ISEA2012. The worst parts (besides the obvious terror of public speaking – statistically more terrifying than death apparently) were:

Being one of the last speakers so waiting in the green room getting nervouser and nervouser

Having to be a poison-face (really nice make-up artists though)

I talked about the ISEA2012 featured artists’ group The Mexican Space Collective and their ‘space opera’ ending with the weird line ‘What’s your space opera?’ People kept repeating that line, so I guess it somehow resonated (thanks to the coaches for that one).

Mexican Space Collective visualization

Tonight one of the Mexican Space Collective artists Ivan Puig is staying with me, so it will be interesting to get more of the inside scoop on their work.

Ivan (right) and his collaborator Andres Padilla

So, as promised, some research into design toolkits. There seem to be 2 kinds out there, ones that focus on the theory and process of collaborative design research and ones that give specific technical instructions. In this brief overview I was much more interested in the design research aspect. One that has been influential to me in the past is the Human Centered Design Toolkit by IDEO that was sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and designed specifically for NGOs and social enterprises that work with impoverished communities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. They have a free download and site for HCD users to connect.

The Brains, Behavior and Design Toolkit looks interesting. Rather than a book form, it takes the form of reference cards, a poster, cards, worksheets and guides each focusing on a different aspect of applying findings from the field of behavioral economics to design practice. It’s ntriguing how they focus on designing for situations when people act irrationally (when do we NOT?). All are available for free download.

Engineers at Cambridge have created an Inclusive Design Toolkit, a booklet that focuses on ways industrial product designers can create for specifically an aging population. Their website here: http://www.inclusivedesigntoolkit.com/

This idea also applies to design for people with autism, children and other abilities.

Image from http://gsadesignglossary.com/inclusive-design.html

The Design with Intent Toolkit by Dan Lockton looks at the underlying patterns to how we interact with our environment and with each other and unpacks these patterns into a series of design strategies that designers can use to shape and influence how people behave. It takes the form of a series of cards that looks at sustainable design through eight ‘lenses’ and is also available as a free download.

The Community Mapping + Design Toolkit by Places for All was created for communities in Cambodia to engage in collaborative mapping for neighborhood improvement. It was designed also as a series of cards, but laminated and on a metal clip to be ‘motorcycle friendly.’

Places for All also has created a Recipes for Change Toolkit in the form of a box of recipe cards.

Occupy Design has a toolkit available as a free download that focuses on visualizing datasets related to the economy, for example:

from http://www.brianhayes.com/2011/10/page/2/

Finally, a kind of funny and more ‘manifesto-esque’ toolkit is this #the50 Things Every Creative Should Know, which includes some obvious advice but some pretty good, practical tips, and every tip is tweetable! Nice graphics too:

This one is for ‘make your invoice stand out’ – a technique to increase a freelancer’s chances of getting paid more quickly!

So I’ve been thinking once all this ISEA2012 and Bio-Ethics of Beer stuff winds down (didn’t blog abut the Bio-ethics of Beer yet, huh? Well stay tuned!), that it might be a good time to start designing a manifesto of sorts for our Social Media Workgroup. So, I’ve started to take a look at ‘design manifestos’ that are out there. Most of the ones I could find had silly and obvious slogans like ‘take risks’, ‘be nice’, ‘don’t get bored’ (uh, yeah sorry, I’m bored by that), but others seem to be having some fun, here are some examples:

http://www.leahkoransky.com/

Some writing tips from http://www.gabwhite.com/2011/04/presto-manifesto/

From http://inspirationfeed.com/inspiration/typography-inspiration/40-remarkable-examples-of-typography-design-8/

Cell phone sleeping bag called the Sabbath Manifesto

From http://limorzisbrod.com/Design-Manifesto

Stencils made of recycled material from http://www.behance.net/gallery/Sustainable-Design-Manifesto/2909287

Could software function as a manifesto? Hardware? What would that be like?

Some more:
First Things First originally published in 1964 as a manifesto against corporate design
Lots of the generic stuff in Bruce Mau’s manifesto unfortunately
100+ examples http://backspace.com/notes/2009/07/design-manifestos.php

Or… is what we need more of a toolkit? (more on this in future postings)

Via the curious brain