"glo(c)k gene" ANDRE BRODYK transgenic E-coli bacteria sealed in double perspex containers; slide projection; UV light; stroboscope light; electric cables and fittings The hybrid installation "glo(c)k gene" is a work in progress. "glo(c)k gene" uses living material as a new art medium. It employs the processes used in biotechnology involving genetic engineering as new media art protocols to critique both art and science. "glo(c)k gene" is comprised of both living and non-living components which progressively deteriorate throughout the exhibition at variable rates. The primary living components of "glo(c)k gene" were made in a microbiology laboratory which the artist uses as an artist's studio in Newcastle (Australia). These are transgenic Escherichia-coli bacteria (E-coli), transformed with encoded genetic material derived from either jelly-fish or living coral organisms from The Red Sea. The introduced encoded genetic material enables the production of the proteins responsible for either green fluorescence (GFP) or red fluorescence (RFP). Visually, this genetic modification changes the outward appearance or phenotype of the E-coli such that it emits either a green (GFP) or red light (RFP) when exposed to Ultra/near Ultra Violet light energies. The transgenic E-coli used as a new living drawing medium, references the biotechnology/art hybrid in the installation "glo(c)k gene". These are displayed in a linear array of glowing and expanding drawings inside clear poly-styrene and acrylic sculpted vitrines. The linear depictions are hybrids in another sense. They are less drawings than diagrams, as are found in art process books on how to construct elementary forms and figures. The installation itself is organised like a scientific diagram as found in genetics lab protocol manuals. The installation is organised as 2D/3D-based diagram and depicts a fictional "map" of the "glo(c)k gene" DNA protocol used in the engineering process. The diagrammatic "map" describes a tiny segment of the encoded "glo(c)k gene". Other figures depicted in this installation, including those made with living transgenic E-coli medium, reveal other potentially non-fictional chimeras. "glo(c)k gene" is based on the fact that current transgenic technologies now make it possible to genetically engineer any living species with encoded genetic material from any source including non-living "inanimate" objects. No longer science fictional, such technology is now science fact. The installation is itself a hybrid of living/non-living and "glo(c)k gene" is both science fictional and science fact. It presents a short-lived preview of what other animate/inanimate transgenic creations may look like by using a limited range of diminutive inanimate/animate diagrammatic forms including a camel and a hand gun. "glo(c)k gene" references the temporal and transitory notion of life forms and the concept of the living. It inculcates a sense of the transformative qualities of both art and science and reveals the genomes of living organisms to be mutable sites of aesthetic exchange. Acknowledgements Professor Anne Graham, University of Newcastle Dr Peter Lewis, University of Newcastle Ms Karen Davies, University of Newcastle Biography Andre Brodyk is a new media "Bio" artist interested in creative interpretations of Genomics and Biotechnology. His work involves using a genetics laboratory as a new media studio and the use of living transgenic organisms as new art media and genetics protocols as new art processes. His research is centred on creating biochemically compatible genetic material (codons) for use within living organisms, which are synthesized from arbitrary novel encryptions of inanimate (visual) data. He is currently a PhD Fine Art candidate at the College of Fine Art UNSW.

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