Same pursuit, new projects…

Posted by Isabelle Desjeux on October 23, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Arabidopsis screen: wild types

Having won first prize at the French Singapore New Generation Artists 2011 , I now have to come up with the goods for a large SOLO Exhibition at the Alliance Française in March 2012.

So, here are some of the on-going projects that will lead to this exhibition:

Scientist-led discussions on their production of leftovers. I am currently recruiting scientists to participate in this survey.
Looking at the unseen: the screen leftovers. The project consists of collecting the “uninteresting” wild-type samples of on-going genetic screens. Zebrafish, Arabidopsis (see above), Drosophila, etc I am looking for more screens to participate in…
How to re-enact the process of classification? What is the connection between “sorting” of the scientists’ leftovers to be recycled and classifying at the scientific level?
As part of this on-going project of probing “what is biology?”, I am planning a series of science workshops that will take place in a museum, and involve the public: the non-said in science. The project aims at highlighting that there are many reasons for why results sometimes cannot be replicated, and in general, showing the role of the physical body of the scientist in the running of the experiments. I want to show the variety that happens, even when all the measurable variables are the same. Ultimately, I want to make people question why on the one hand we wouldn’t want machines to run experiments, but on the other hand, neglect the fact that there might be any difference between experimentaters.
Finally, I will be performing a lecture for the Republic Poly students, entitled “Failomics: what biology can teach us about failures”. at 4:15 pm, on Monday 24th of October. The lecture is open to all. Just walk in!