The exhibition selected two sets of abstract art works with molecular biology as the subject. They have the same form as classical abstract works in the history of art, but they represent a new perspective of the artists' creation in the post-revolutionary era.
Ben Fry, an artist who specializes in “genetic cartography,” is also the inventor of “Processing,” a popular graphical interaction software. In exhibition work Chromosome 21, he transformed the 48 million base groups on the 21st chromosome of the human body into a cold and solemn giant abstraction by decoding the color of its validity or inefficiency. The picture of Chromosome 21 is very similar to the minimalist artist Agnes Martin's Untitled 7, even though Martin was depicting lines as merely a daily religious practice.
Another artist, Julian Voss-Andreae, is a sculptor with a background in quantum physics. He specializes in building giant outdoor sculptures by making three-dimensional structural models of real protein molecules. These sculptural lines are sturdy and single-colored, with a similar appearance with one of the works designed by Tony Smith.
Although Fry and Voss-Andreae's works have a classic form of abstract art, they are a kind of new “realism,” which may be called “scientific realism.” Because they are infinitely magnified representations of the little elements (genes and proteins) that make up life. They are super-realistic.
The two artists, Agnes Martin and Tony Smith, were active in the post-World War II period of artistic transformation. Their concern was to create works that differentiated themselves from those in classic modernism in their respective media (painting and sculpture). This contrast and echoing is not only a coincidence in the history of art but also indicates the possibility of a new scientific world outlook and artistic values in the future.
The CAFA Art Museum launched the “Project Space Young Curators Lab” in July 2016, inviting young curators to conduct curatorial experiments on multiple disciplines. The first exhibition, When Forms does not Become Attitude, will be held from July 2 to August 27 to discuss contemporary art creations themed on biology.
About the curator
Jo Wei lives and works in Beijing. One of her recent research directions is biology. Her research includes the context of bio-art history, the relationship among science history, social history and bio-art; case studies and interviews of bio artists and bio-art research institutions at home and abroad; and cooperation between scientific labs and artists.
From 2011 to 2014, she participated in the preparatory work for the Shanghai Yuz Museum and assisted the chief curator Wu Hung in planning the group exhibition Myth/ Historyfor museum opening; in 2015, she participated in the preliminary research work of China-related projects of Guggenheim Museum in New York. In recent years, she has been writing for professional media such as Art Worldand Art Newsand translating for YISHU,LEAP, and other art magazines. She is also the founder of "Pan Bio-art Studio" (PBS) and obtained a master degree in molecular biology in Fudan University.
About artists & artworks
Ben Fry
Born in 1975 and currently working and living in Boston, USA, Ben Fry received a Ph.D. from the Aesthetics and Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab and continued to take genetic data visualization as his postdoctoral research direction after graduation.
He and Casey Rice (who teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles) jointly developed Processing, an open source programming language and development environment, which is used for procedural design and interactive media software. In 2005, this software won “Golden Nica,” the highest prize in the “Prix Ars Electronica.” Processing 1.0 was released in November 2008 and used by tens of millions of people worldwide every day.
Fry’s works were collected by institutions such as Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and once exhibited at the Museum in 2001 and 2008, the Ars Electronica Festival in 2000, 2002 and 2005 and Whitney Biennale in 2002. His information graphics are also illustrated in articles in the famous scientific journal Nature, as well as New York Times.
About Chromosome 21
Chromosome 21 consists of more than 48 million base groups (represented by the characters A, T, C, G). Genes are functional bases groups in the human body. In this artwork, the artist uses different colors to depict gene sequences: dark sequences represent exons that can guide protein synthesis in cells; light sequences represent introns and are invalid for interrupting exons. The color grey is a sequence whose function has not yet been confirmed. The “unreadable” regions of gene sequencing machine (and cells) are indicated by slashes. Chromosome 21 is one of the shortest human chromosomes. Even so, the figure contains 48,129,895 base groups. With a similar number of 65 images, that is, 3.1 billion base groups, the entire human genome can be described.
Julian Voss-Andreae
Julian Voss-Andreae was born in 1970 and currently works and lives in Portland, USA.
After turning his interest from painting, Julian Voss-Andria studied physics, mathematics, and philosophy successively in Berlin, Edinburgh and Vienna. He eventually devoted himself to the study of quantum physics and participated in some significant quantum physics experiments. He received a degree in sculpture from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in the United States in 2004.
The works of Voss-Andria are often inspired by his scientific background and are followed by many art institutions. He has produced large outdoor sculptures for research institutions of Rutgers University, University of Minnesota and the University of Texas. His works have received extensive media coverage internationally.
About Melittin
This work is a sculpture showing the protein structure of melittin. It can be regarded as a "scientific realism" work. Melittin, as the primary active substance in bee venom, is an asymmetric linear peptide composed of 26 amino acids. In previous versions, the artist modeled the melittin protein through a computer program and converted it into a metal-cutting program. In this exhibition, the artist chooses to use 3D printing, a more modern technology.
“Project Space Young Curators Lab” Organization Committee:
Chief Curators: Wang Huangsheng, Yu Ding
Academic Host: Wang Chunchen
Chief Executors: Liu Xiyan, Chen Jie, Chi Zhao
Public Education: Ren Rui
Development and Promotion: Song Liang
Visual Director: Ji Yujie
Organizer: The CAFA Art Museum, The CAFA Institute of Art Management and Education
Co-organizer: Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund
Sponsor: Beijing Zhenghecheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
Designated output institution: Beijing Flyingfish Cultural Development Co., Ltd. Art Micro-jet Studio
About “Project Space Young Curators Lab”
The CAFA Art Museum “Project Space Young Curators Lab” 2016-2017 project will be officially launched at the CAFA Art Museum in July this year. The project was jointly initiated by the CAFA Art Museum and Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund. Six young curators and teams were invited to plan, implement and display six cross-border exhibition experiments in different directions on the “project space” platform. This year's “Project Space Young Curators Lab” emphasizes theme and experiment. It is a brand-new measure to respond to the new artistic environment and the status of young curators and is also a continuation and extension of the core concept of “project space.”
The “Project Space” exhibition plan was started in October 2009, which is aimed to cultivate outstanding young curators and to promote and support the curatorial practice of young curators with an international perspective and academic depth. So far, the “project space” has launched nearly 20 projects, which has established a platform for academics and exhibitions for a group of young curators. “Project Space” will continue to maintain close contact with young curators and groups in the future. Through the support of museums and foundations, it will continue to explore and train young Chinese curators and provide them with opportunities for curatorial and exchange activities to inspire the young power and vitality of China's strategic exhibitions.
About Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund
Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund was established on July 15, 2012, with the purpose of supporting and nurturing young curators with international vision and professional qualities. The project involved young curators overseas training programs, international curators and master workshops. In October 2009, it cooperated with the CAFA Art Museum to start the “Project Space” exhibition plan.
“Project Space Young Curators Lab” 2016-2017 Exhibition Plan
July 2016: When Form does not Become Attitude: Encounters between Biology and Contemporary Art (Curator: Jo Wei)
September 2016: The Liver (to be confirmed) (Curator: Li Shengzhao)
October 2016: Rheological “Sound” (to be confirmed) (Curator: Chao Jiaxing)
December 2016: Visual is Reality - Fantasy and Immersion (Curator: Shi Guanzhe)
March 2017: The Mechanism (Curator: a group)
April 2017 : Poolroom (Curator: Liu Tian/ Open Matter Institute)
The exhibition selected two sets of abstract art works with molecular biology as the subject. They have the same form as classical abstract works in the history of art, but they represent a new perspective of the artists' creation in the post-revolutionary era.
Ben Fry, an artist who specializes in “genetic cartography,” is also the inventor of “Processing,” a popular graphical interaction software. In exhibition work Chromosome 21, he transformed the 48 million base groups on the 21st chromosome of the human body into a cold and solemn giant abstraction by decoding the color of its validity or inefficiency. The picture of Chromosome 21 is very similar to the minimalist artist Agnes Martin's Untitled 7, even though Martin was depicting lines as merely a daily religious practice.
Another artist, Julian Voss-Andreae, is a sculptor with a background in quantum physics. He specializes in building giant outdoor sculptures by making three-dimensional structural models of real protein molecules. These sculptural lines are sturdy and single-colored, with a similar appearance with one of the works designed by Tony Smith.
Although Fry and Voss-Andreae's works have a classic form of abstract art, they are a kind of new “realism,” which may be called “scientific realism.” Because they are infinitely magnified representations of the little elements (genes and proteins) that make up life. They are super-realistic.
The two artists, Agnes Martin and Tony Smith, were active in the post-World War II period of artistic transformation. Their concern was to create works that differentiated themselves from those in classic modernism in their respective media (painting and sculpture). This contrast and echoing is not only a coincidence in the history of art but also indicates the possibility of a new scientific world outlook and artistic values in the future.
The CAFA Art Museum launched the “Project Space Young Curators Lab” in July 2016, inviting young curators to conduct curatorial experiments on multiple disciplines. The first exhibition, When Forms does not Become Attitude, will be held from July 2 to August 27 to discuss contemporary art creations themed on biology.
About the curator
Jo Wei lives and works in Beijing. One of her recent research directions is biology. Her research includes the context of bio-art history, the relationship among science history, social history and bio-art; case studies and interviews of bio artists and bio-art research institutions at home and abroad; and cooperation between scientific labs and artists.
From 2011 to 2014, she participated in the preparatory work for the Shanghai Yuz Museum and assisted the chief curator Wu Hung in planning the group exhibition Myth/ Historyfor museum opening; in 2015, she participated in the preliminary research work of China-related projects of Guggenheim Museum in New York. In recent years, she has been writing for professional media such as Art Worldand Art Newsand translating for YISHU,LEAP, and other art magazines. She is also the founder of "Pan Bio-art Studio" (PBS) and obtained a master degree in molecular biology in Fudan University.
About artists & artworks
Ben Fry
Born in 1975 and currently working and living in Boston, USA, Ben Fry received a Ph.D. from the Aesthetics and Computing Group at the MIT Media Lab and continued to take genetic data visualization as his postdoctoral research direction after graduation.
He and Casey Rice (who teaches at the University of California, Los Angeles) jointly developed Processing, an open source programming language and development environment, which is used for procedural design and interactive media software. In 2005, this software won “Golden Nica,” the highest prize in the “Prix Ars Electronica.” Processing 1.0 was released in November 2008 and used by tens of millions of people worldwide every day.
Fry’s works were collected by institutions such as Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and once exhibited at the Museum in 2001 and 2008, the Ars Electronica Festival in 2000, 2002 and 2005 and Whitney Biennale in 2002. His information graphics are also illustrated in articles in the famous scientific journal Nature, as well as New York Times.
About Chromosome 21
Chromosome 21 consists of more than 48 million base groups (represented by the characters A, T, C, G). Genes are functional bases groups in the human body. In this artwork, the artist uses different colors to depict gene sequences: dark sequences represent exons that can guide protein synthesis in cells; light sequences represent introns and are invalid for interrupting exons. The color grey is a sequence whose function has not yet been confirmed. The “unreadable” regions of gene sequencing machine (and cells) are indicated by slashes. Chromosome 21 is one of the shortest human chromosomes. Even so, the figure contains 48,129,895 base groups. With a similar number of 65 images, that is, 3.1 billion base groups, the entire human genome can be described.
Julian Voss-Andreae
Julian Voss-Andreae was born in 1970 and currently works and lives in Portland, USA.
After turning his interest from painting, Julian Voss-Andria studied physics, mathematics, and philosophy successively in Berlin, Edinburgh and Vienna. He eventually devoted himself to the study of quantum physics and participated in some significant quantum physics experiments. He received a degree in sculpture from the Pacific Northwest College of Art in the United States in 2004.
The works of Voss-Andria are often inspired by his scientific background and are followed by many art institutions. He has produced large outdoor sculptures for research institutions of Rutgers University, University of Minnesota and the University of Texas. His works have received extensive media coverage internationally.
About Melittin
This work is a sculpture showing the protein structure of melittin. It can be regarded as a "scientific realism" work. Melittin, as the primary active substance in bee venom, is an asymmetric linear peptide composed of 26 amino acids. In previous versions, the artist modeled the melittin protein through a computer program and converted it into a metal-cutting program. In this exhibition, the artist chooses to use 3D printing, a more modern technology.
“Project Space Young Curators Lab” Organization Committee:
Chief Curators: Wang Huangsheng, Yu Ding
Academic Host: Wang Chunchen
Chief Executors: Liu Xiyan, Chen Jie, Chi Zhao
Public Education: Ren Rui
Development and Promotion: Song Liang
Visual Director: Ji Yujie
Organizer: The CAFA Art Museum, The CAFA Institute of Art Management and Education
Co-organizer: Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund
Sponsor: Beijing Zhenghecheng Cultural Development Co., Ltd.
Designated output institution: Beijing Flyingfish Cultural Development Co., Ltd. Art Micro-jet Studio
About “Project Space Young Curators Lab”
The CAFA Art Museum “Project Space Young Curators Lab” 2016-2017 project will be officially launched at the CAFA Art Museum in July this year. The project was jointly initiated by the CAFA Art Museum and Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund. Six young curators and teams were invited to plan, implement and display six cross-border exhibition experiments in different directions on the “project space” platform. This year's “Project Space Young Curators Lab” emphasizes theme and experiment. It is a brand-new measure to respond to the new artistic environment and the status of young curators and is also a continuation and extension of the core concept of “project space.”
The “Project Space” exhibition plan was started in October 2009, which is aimed to cultivate outstanding young curators and to promote and support the curatorial practice of young curators with an international perspective and academic depth. So far, the “project space” has launched nearly 20 projects, which has established a platform for academics and exhibitions for a group of young curators. “Project Space” will continue to maintain close contact with young curators and groups in the future. Through the support of museums and foundations, it will continue to explore and train young Chinese curators and provide them with opportunities for curatorial and exchange activities to inspire the young power and vitality of China's strategic exhibitions.
About Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund
Wu Zuoren International Foundation of Fine Art Young Curator Special Fund was established on July 15, 2012, with the purpose of supporting and nurturing young curators with international vision and professional qualities. The project involved young curators overseas training programs, international curators and master workshops. In October 2009, it cooperated with the CAFA Art Museum to start the “Project Space” exhibition plan.
“Project Space Young Curators Lab” 2016-2017 Exhibition Plan
July 2016: When Form does not Become Attitude: Encounters between Biology and Contemporary Art (Curator: Jo Wei)
September 2016: The Liver (to be confirmed) (Curator: Li Shengzhao)
October 2016: Rheological “Sound” (to be confirmed) (Curator: Chao Jiaxing)
December 2016: Visual is Reality - Fantasy and Immersion (Curator: Shi Guanzhe)
March 2017: The Mechanism (Curator: a group)
April 2017 : Poolroom (Curator: Liu Tian/ Open Matter Institute)
