I found when I explored new forms of media art, I became much more aware of the relationship between media and art and how it can help us to understand contemporary media. I'd like to discuss this in relation to the artwork I found called, Genesis. Genesis is a media artwork by Edwardo Kac. What Kac did in his artwork was take a quote from the bible, Genesis, and turn it into Morse Code and then turn that Morse Code into DNA base pairs, using a conversion principle he devised. He them placed the bacteria, from the DNA, into a petrie dish and enabled audience members to accelerate or decelerate its growth through a website which controlled the light source (ekac 2012).
What I found most interesting about this was the way it explored the relationship between technology and science, while still telling the story of the growth of technology. Genesis, relating to origin, works with the use of Morse Code, as being the origin of global communication and contemporary media as we know it.
I also find the interactivity to be a major part of the work. Allowing users to engage, online, directly relates to contemporary media, which is, for the most part, completely user generated. We control the way in which the networks formed by new media grow and develop, reflected here through the bacteria.
By laying it out, in such an immersive, interactive and reflective way, Kac enables the audience to experience the progression of new media through his artwork.
Kac's work can be found at :
http://www.ekac.org/geninfo2.html
By laying it out, in such an immersive, interactive and reflective way, Kac enables the audience to experience the progression of new media through his artwork.
Kac's work can be found at :
http://www.ekac.org/geninfo2.html
