Prix ars electronica 2012 50 Joe Davis - Bacterial Radio

Joe Davis (born 1950) is a research affiliate in the Department of Biology at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

, and in the George Church Laboratory at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. His research and art includes work in the fields of BioArt (using

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

and bioinformatics), "

space art "Space art" (also "astronomical art") is the term for a genre of modern artistic expression that strives to show the wonders of the Universe. Like other genres, space art has many facets and encompasses realism, impressionism, hardware art, scu ...

", and

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...

, using media including

centrifuge A centrifuge is a device that uses centrifugal force to separate various components of a fluid. This is achieved by spinning the fluid at high speed within a container, thereby separating fluids of different densities (e.g. cream from milk) or ...

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

prosthetics In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

, magnetic fields, and genetic material. Davis' teaching positions have been at

, the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

(RISD), and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

. Davis' works include the sculpture ''Earth Sphere'', a landmark fog fountain at

Kendall Square Kendall Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The square itself at the intersection of Main Street and Broadway. It also refers to the broad business district east of Portland Street, northwest of the Charles River, north of MIT ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...

, near the

MIT campus The Massachusetts Institute of Technology occupies a tract in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The campus spans approximately one mile (1.6 km) of the north side of the Charles River basin directly opposite the Back Bay neigh ...

; '' RuBisCo Stars'', a transmission of a message to nearby stars from the Arecibo Observatory

radiotelescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency po ...

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, carried out in November 2009; ''New Age Ruby Falls'', a project to create an artificial

aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

using a 100,000 watt electron beam fired into the magnetosphere from a NASA space shuttle (which has not yet been carried out); and ''Microvenus'', a piece of symbolic art involving engineering the genetic code of a microbe.

Significance

Davis' work has been featured in scientific journals, art magazines, and mainstream media—including ''Scientific American'', ''Nature'' magazine, and several books. Additionally, Davis has contributed to projects associated with the DIYbio movement . He is frequently invited to speak at universities, labs, and art institutes. Davis' life was further detailed in a feature-length documentary entitled ''Heaven+Earth+Joe Davis''. Davis has had many media appearances, including twice on the ''

Colbert Report ''The Colbert Report'' ( ) is an American late-night talk and news satire television program hosted by Stephen Colbert that aired four days a week on Comedy Central from October 17, 2005, to December 18, 2014, for 1,447 episodes. The show foc ...

''. A segment was also produced on Nova. In 2001, the ''Washington Post'' termed Davis the "éminence grise of the 'bioart' movement", saying further, "Davis eschews the art versus science argument, insisting that he speaks both languages and could not possibly tear the two disciplines apart in his own mind". Davis' work has further significance in documenting and critiquing early attempts at

steganographic Steganography ( ) is the practice of representing information within another message or physical object, in such a manner that the presence of the information is not evident to human inspection. In computing/electronic contexts, a computer file, ...

encoding of culturally important messages and images for future generations or extraterrestrial cultures. Davis has stated that he does not wish to create "green rabbits or purple dogs", but rather to manipulate the reams of silent, "

junk DNA Non-coding DNA (ncDNA) sequences are components of an organism's DNA that do not encode protein sequences. Some non-coding DNA is transcribed into functional non-coding RNA molecules (e.g. transfer RNA, microRNA, piRNA, ribosomal RNA, and regula ...

" that comprise more than 90% of an organism's genetic code.

Other works

*''Audio Microscope'' - a microscope that translates light information into sound allowing you to "hear" living cells, each with its own "

acoustic signature The term acoustic signature is used to describe a combination of acoustic emissions of sound emitters, such as those of ships and submarines. In addition, aircraft, machinery, and living animals can be described as having their own characteristic ...

" *Experiments with how ''E. coli'' respond to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, and other sounds, with Adam Zaretsky *Putting a map of the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

into the ear of a

transgenic A transgene is a gene that has been transferred naturally, or by any of a number of genetic engineering techniques, from one organism to another. The introduction of a transgene, in a process known as transgenesis, has the potential to change the ...

mouse. *"Primordial" clocks - a project surrounding a theory that life spontaneously self-assembled *Plans for channeling

lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

bolts into a

pulsed laser Pulsed operation of lasers refers to any laser not classified as continuous wave, so that the optical power appears in pulses of some duration at some repetition rate. Silfvast, William T. (1996). ''Laser Fundamentals'', Cambridge University Press. ...

of almost unparalleled energy and into towering sculptures that would change the bolts' color and emit incredibly loud tones *''Poetica Vaginal'' - a signal sent to several nearby star systems fashioned from the sound of

vaginal contraction Vaginal contractions are contractions of the pelvic muscles surrounding the vagina, especially the pubococcygeus muscle. Vaginal contractions are generally an involuntary muscular response to orgasm. Though usually an involuntary response, some wo ...

s *''Malus ecclesia'' - encoding the

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

into the

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

tree genome to create a living, literal tree of knowledge *''Swan Song'' - sending a radio morse code message back to 1935, via the extreme Kerr

rotating black hole A rotating black hole is a black hole that possesses angular momentum. In particular, it rotates about one of its axes of symmetry. All celestial objects – planets, stars (Sun), galaxies, black holes – spin. Types of black holes Ther ...

Cygnus X-1 Cygnus X-1 (abbreviated Cyg X-1) is a galactic X-ray source in the constellation Cygnus and was the first such source widely accepted to be a black hole. It was discovered in 1964 during a rocket flight and is one of the ...

, with a nod to the H.G. Wells 1937 novel, Star Begotten, whose protagonist is Joseph Davis.

References

External links

Joe Davis: Genetics and CultureGenesthetics - Joe Davis Bioart Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Joe 1953 births Living people BioArtists New media artists American conceptual artists Space artists