Joe Davis (artist)
Encyclopedia
Joe Davis is a research affiliate in the Department of Biology at MIT
and in the George Church Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. His research and art includes work in the fields of molecular biology, bioinformatics, "space art", and sculpture, using media including but not limited to centrifuges, radios, prosthetics, magnetic fields, and genetic material. Davis' teaching positions have been at MIT and the Rhode Island School of Design
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Davis' works include the sculpture "Earth Sphere," a landmark at Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass.
, near the MIT campus; "Rubisco Stars," a transmission of a message to nearby stars from the Arecibo radiotelescope in Puerto Rico, carried out in Nov. 2009; "New Age Ruby Falls," a project to create an artificial aurora using a 100,000 watt electron beam fired into the magnetosphere from a NASA space shuttle, which has not yet been carried out, and "Microvenus," a piece of symbolic art involving engineering the genetic code of a microbe.
His work has further significance in documenting and critiquing early attempts at steganographic encoding of culturally important messages and images for future generations or extraterrestrial cultures. Additionally, Davis has contributed to projects associated with the DIYbio
movement of 2008. He has said that he does not wish to create green rabbits or purple dogs, but rather to manipulate the reams of silent, "junk" DNA that comprise more than ninety percent of an organism's genetic code.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and in the George Church Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. His research and art includes work in the fields of molecular biology, bioinformatics, "space art", and sculpture, using media including but not limited to centrifuges, radios, prosthetics, magnetic fields, and genetic material. Davis' teaching positions have been at MIT and the Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design is a fine arts and design college located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1877. Located at the base of College Hill, the RISD campus is contiguous with the Brown University campus. The two institutions share social, academic, and community resources and...
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Davis' works include the sculpture "Earth Sphere," a landmark at Kendall Square, Cambridge, Mass.
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, near the MIT campus; "Rubisco Stars," a transmission of a message to nearby stars from the Arecibo radiotelescope in Puerto Rico, carried out in Nov. 2009; "New Age Ruby Falls," a project to create an artificial aurora using a 100,000 watt electron beam fired into the magnetosphere from a NASA space shuttle, which has not yet been carried out, and "Microvenus," a piece of symbolic art involving engineering the genetic code of a microbe.
Significance
Davis' work has been featured in articles in Scientific American, Nature magazine, and several books. In addition, a feature-length documentary about Davis entitled "Heaven and Earth and Joe Davis" is currently in post-production. The Washington Post recently termed Davis the "éminence grise of the 'bioart' movement", offering further, "Davis eschews the art versus science argument, insisting that he speaks both languages and could not possibly tear the two disciplines apart in his own mind."His work has further significance in documenting and critiquing early attempts at steganographic encoding of culturally important messages and images for future generations or extraterrestrial cultures. Additionally, Davis has contributed to projects associated with the DIYbio
DIYbio
Founded by Mackenzie Cowell and Jason Bobe, DIYbio is a network of individuals from around the globe that aims to help make biology a worthwhile pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists, and do-it-yourself biological engineers who value openness and safety...
movement of 2008. He has said that he does not wish to create green rabbits or purple dogs, but rather to manipulate the reams of silent, "junk" DNA that comprise more than ninety percent of an organism's genetic code.
Other works
- Audio Microscope - a microscope that translates light information into sound allowing you to "hear" living cells, each with its own "acoustic signature."
- Experiments with how E. coli respond to jazz, and other sounds, with Andrew Zaretsky
- Putting a map of the Milky Way into the ear of a transgenic mouse
- ‘primordial’ clocks - a project surrounding a theory that life spontaneously self-assembled
- Plans for channeling lightning bolts into a pulsed laser of almost unparalleled energy and into towering sculptures that would change the bolts' color and emit incredibly loud tones