Workshop participants painting on Petri dishes with genetically modified yeast. Photo credit, Em Joseph, Joseph Joseph Studio.
Biogenetic Blooms x Others (Brothers + Washed Up)
November 16 through December 6, 2024
Sarah Peltier, the baker and co-owner of Brothers (a much loved breakfast and lunch spot in Rockaway Beach, NYC on the boardwalk at 107 street ) offered me an opportunity to hold a microbial painting workshop in the space Brothers shares at the end of the summer season with Washed Up Beach Cafe (another beloved boardwalk establishment at 97 in the warmer seasons). Brothers + Washed Up combine to make Others at 97th and the boardwalk, a weekend breakfast, lunch, and dinner venue that frequently invites local artists and musicians to share their talents with the Rockaway community at the season’s close. Honoring Sarah’s invitation and expertise as a baker, I chose a rich palette of genetically modified yeast from the Boeke Lab at NYU Langone as the medium for the workshop. The Petri dish art works were incubated at 30°C for several days, and displayed in a bakery display case until the weekend Others closed. Workshop participants could come look at their creations and watch as the colors became more rich and vibrant as they cooled over the weekends following the workshop.
Yeast Petri dish artworks painted by me and workshop participants at Others on Beach 97 street and the boardwalk in Rockaway Beach, NYC. Photo credit, Em Joseph, Joseph Joseph Studio.
Sharing my practice at Others with the Rockaway community in this venue aknowledges the overlap of food, art, and science. I have long been inspired by the quote below by Francoise Baylis in her 2019 book, “Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing,” and working with yeast on an installation commissioned by Sarah–a baker– offered the perfect opportunity to explore a type of art making with organisms that have long been used in making food. The gene edited yeast that was used in painting wasn’t eaten or made into food, but Sarah made some delicious cookies for participants to enjoy after the workshop.
A selection of Petri dish artworks created by workshop participants. Full list of participants below.
“I invite the audience to imagine a world in which everyone could participate in the conversation about the future of genome editing. I suggest this would require taking down the walls around the laboratory and the boardroom. These are not welcoming spaces for those who lack specific credentials; moreover, at the present time, these are heavily gendered spaces. I suggest moving the conversation to the kitchen–a familiar space for most people where we typically share sustenance and conversation. I then suggest that we might even want to escape these walls and move the conversation outside where we could have a picnic.”
Bioethicist Francoise Baylis, “Altered Inheritance: CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing” 2019, Harvard, pg 182
Various photos of workshop participants making Petri dish paintings at Others, participant feedback, and the bakery display case that housed the bioart. Photo credit: Em Joseph at Joseph Joseph Studio.
I displayed several pieces of my own bioart with the workshop paintings exploring color studies and brushwork with the Opentrons OT-2 and by hand. These Petri dishes included several sunflowers, a favorite of Sarah’s; a bright and bursting flower that marks the end of summer and beckons the chill of fall.
Petri dish paintings by Karen Ingram, 2024
Closeup of “Sunflower 1” by Karen Ingram
“Biogenetic Blooms x Others (Brothers and Washed Up)” credits and thanks
A collaboration with OTHERS (Brothers and Washed Up)
Special Thanks
Sarah Peltier at Brothers, Peter Ruehmann at the Boeke lab at NYU, Genspace community biotech lab, Amino bio, Biobat Art Space
Participants
Neha Harle, Riva Richmond, Rada Richmond, Bethany Kivin, Ciara, Gregory Baroutsos, Kristen Elizabeth, Rainer Hunt, Rebecca O'Sullivan, Jessica Hoffman, Katie McGoldrick, Rachel Krieger-Garone, Erika Jane Barrett