I continue to be fascinated by both the subject as well as all the potential creative manifestations that might arise. The truncated clay creature version has been play-tested with several times adults, teenagers and now a fourth time with a 6-year-old who interpreted the elements as examples and decided to make his…
Fancy-Lady Dog
Harvest – the board game test run
A big Thank You! to: David, Ann (Chunyu), Jeff, Ezra and Sara for your enthusiasm, constructive criticism, and thoughtful suggestions. Yesterday was the first trial of my board game. Four friends and my partner (all well versed in board games) generously took part (although I did ply them with food and wine). I began…
Harvest: a series of Exquisite Corpse games
I am making three exquisite corpse games based on bioprospecting which are targeted towards three different audiences based on age groups/comprehension and literacy levels, and accessibility (i.e. own a computer). The The first version can be played by children as young as 3 or 4. It consists of truncated parts of biological creatures and…
Bioprospecting and Pharmaceutical Companies
For my daily practice this week, I will be focusing in on a section of my original mapping. I will be investigating 6 pharmaceutical companies and their practices regarding bioprospecting. #1: Eli Lilly and the Rosy Periwinkle “In the early 1950s, following clues from indigenous medicine men in Madagascar, researchers at Eli…
The Andaman Island Book of Remedies
Sarah’s suggestion to formulate/conceive of “occasions” at which to serve/share these cocktails resonated strongly with me – both in terms of the performative aspect (whether or not there is an actual performance – also an intriguing idea) as well as making the audience more defined/present. Additional helpful feedback:…
Bioprospecting “Cocktail” Recipe Book
1936 edition of cocktail recipes from the Savoy Hotel in London Working titles: The Bio-Marine Remedy Book The Fresh Pharm Recipe Book I have been carrying around this 1930s cocktail book that my grandfather bought on trip to London in 1937. The tone definitely belongs to the elite class of the era, the smart…
bioprospecting drawing
(I am having trouble uploading…) Link to finished drawing Link to film
Bioprospecting of the Deep, Interview with Jiajun Gu
Last summer, I met Jiajun Gu, a science (biology) lab technician at NYUSH, while working on a project. He was generous with his time and clearly interested in encouraging my burgeoning interest in the laboratory work behind some of my interests in the environment. At that time, he mentioned his deep belief that science was…
Bioprospecting of the Deep 1
Bioprospecting (also known as biodiversity prospecting) My preconceptions of bioprospecting are rooted in a strong anti-capitalist cynicism – it is a horrible drain on the ecology of the Deep and will have lasting, irreversible effects on our environment in general. Although much of what I am reading confirms this, that information is generally situated from the POV…
Fancy-Lady Dog
My experience in China has been filled with opportunities to contemplate issues of linguistic and cultural translation. In critically examining the underlying belief systems and cultural shaping inherent in the languages I utilize (or attempt to), I am intrigued by the conflict between historicity and fluidity in the construction of new hybrid languages and meanings…