ABOUT THE PROJECT
The emerging field of synthetic biology, which has the power to expansively transform modern life, offers an urgent opportunity to confront the innovative nature and “wisdom” of the “wise human” Homo sapiens. What forms of life will we choose to cultivate moving forward? What will we nurture, and what might we leave behind, whether by choice or by accident? Where does agency reside in this new moment of making, learning and living with? Emergence invites the public to explore these questions together, inspired by iconic bio artworks, new lab-based discoveries and design solutions, and a range of wildly creative thinkers serving as embodied prompts, guides and provocateurs. Organized with blur across the themes “Being Born,” “Living,” and “Dying,” Emergence probes changing definitions of what is natural, synthetic, conscious, and essential to existence — and grounds the enormity of its questions in a timescale and experience with which all humans grapple: the unfolding of life.
Emergence will open at the Japanese American Cultural & Community Center and is among more than 60 exhibitions and programs to be presented as part of PST ART. Returning in September 2024 with its latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, this landmark regional event explores the intersections of art and science, both past and present. PST ART is presented by Getty.
About PST ART
PST ART is a groundbreaking cultural collaboration. Every five years, PST ART unites hundreds of artists around a single, electrifying theme at more than 60 exhibition spaces. While the theme is different each time, the heart of PST ART is always the distinctive cultural identity of Southern California, and the universal hunger for artistic and intellectual discovery. In a region famed for its films and theme parks, PST ART provides a different kind of gripping experience— and the most distinctively Southern Californian of all. www.pst.art
About Japanese American Cultural & Community Center (JACCC)
Founded in 1971, Japanese American Cultural & Community Center is one of the largest ethnic arts and cultural centers of its kind in the United States. A hub for Japanese and Japanese American arts and culture and a community gathering place for the diverse voices it inspires, JACCC connects traditional and contemporary; community participants and creative professionals; Southern California and the world beyond. www.jaccc.org
Research images, clockwise: Wool jumper, knitted from 'Dolly': the first cloned cell animal by Science Museum Group Collection Online is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. The design for this jumper was created by 12-year-old Holly Wharton, in response to a competition held by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust in conjunction with the Science Museum, London. The jumper was then presented to the Science Museum to form part of its permanent collection. / "Prototype Automated DNA Gene Sequencer" by Applied Biosystems Inc. is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 via Science Museum Group Collection Online. Determining the sequence of bases in a small length of DNA was achieved in the 1970s. This machine (370A), developed by Applied Biosystems Inc., in Foster City, San Mateo County, California, in 1987, automates the time-consuming process. The sequence is read by a laser and appears on screen or on a print out. The machine uses the Sanger method, named after Frederick Sanger (b. 1918), a British biochemist who first determined a process for DNA sequencing. This work won him his second Nobel Prize, in 1980. / "Genetic Code by Kosi Gramatikoff, Seth Miller courtesy of Abgent" by dullhunk is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Codon wheels are used during RNA translation to find the amino acids for a particular sequence as a quick, easy reference tool. At top of page: "versus - detail" by Markus Kison is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. Thumbnail image: Oron Catts in the Alkaline Hydrolysis chamber as part of the 3SDC project by Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr in collaboration with Steve Berrick. PS Art Space, Fremantle, Western Australia, 2022.
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