“Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway”
"Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway" is a collaborative piece exploring our relationship with genetics, nature, and each other and was made possible through a 2024 Queens Art Fund (QAF) New Work Grant. The grant was administered by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA). On the opening day of the Rockaway Beach Film Festival, there was a series of free bioart workshops where participants created living artworks from gene edited microbes in Petri dishes. The Petri dishes were incubated and photographed and pieced together to make an animated clip of collaborative bio art that was displayed in the Arverne Cinema installation window from August 22-25.
About the process
The microbes are invisible when they are first painted. After a period of 24-100 hours (depending on the microbe) a colorful image is visible. The colors these microbes produce exist in the DNA of sea creatures like jellyfish, sea anemone, and coral, as well as sweet potatoes, carrots, and bacteria.
Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway
Microbial Collaborations: Paintings on agar with bacteria and yeast
The images in the anuimation were painted with bacteria by “Bioart in Rockaway” workshop participants on August 17, 2024 at Arverne Cinema and with bacteria and yeast by Karen Ingram in her workspace in 2023 and 2024.
"Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway" 2024 Karen Ingram & 54 bioart workshop participants, Escherichia coli & Saccharomyces cerevisiae on Petri dishes.
Photo credit, Joseph Joseph Studio
The workshops were held on August 17, the first day of the Rockaway Beach Film Festival. 54 people participated in the workshop, and used bacteria to paint on agar in Petri dishes. Participants were all ages; from children to seniors. The event was held in Rockaway Beach, specifically Arverne Cinema with attendees coming from Rockaway, other areas of Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond (evenbrite signups reflect New Jersey, Washington DC, and North Dakota).
The Petri dishes were incubated for several days, photographed and integrated into an animation that was showcased in the display window at Arverne Cinema from August 22 until the close of the festival on August 25th, free for anyone to view.
Arverne Cinema display window, showing the "Biogenetic Blooms: Bioart in Rockaway" collaborative animation. Display window video and photos captured by Em Joseph at Joseph Joseph Studio.
The Flowers
Inspiration for some of the flowers depicted came from the Arverne Nature Preserve, including Black-eyed Susan, Chicory, and Wood Rose. The bacteria was engineered at Amino Labs in Canada and the yeast at Boeke Lab at NYU.
About the QAF New Work Grant:
The Queens Arts Fund offers project grants to Queens-based artists, artist collectives, and small non-profit organizations of all artistic disciplines to support the local production of artwork and cultural programs that highlight, engage, and bolster the borough of Queens. It is administered by New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) in partnership with the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA).
