Andrew Gracie
DROSOPHILA TITANUS, 2010 – ongoing
Andrew Gracie
United Kingdom / Spain
Mixed media installation (microscope, video, preserved drosophila, printed material, assorted objects and devices)
Andrew Gracie (UK/ES). Drosophila titanus, 2010-ongoing. Research project, image courtesy the artist. 2012 Photo by Andrew Gracie
Drosophila titanus is an attempt to breed a species of fruit fly that would be theoretically capable of living on Saturn’s largest moon Titan, so far the most ‘Earth-like’ place that we know. By necessity the project needs to adhere to a rigourous scientific methodology, however it endeavours to extract artistic metaphor, poetry and ambiguity from these apparent creative restrictions. Concurrently the work embraces several interwoven narratives and concepts related to issues of species, artificially created organisms and the disquieting quest for biological perfection.
Biography
Andy Gracie (b. 1967, Taplow, England) works across various disciplines including installation, robotics, sound, video and biological practice. This work is situated in the fuzzy and problematic trianglebetween the arts, technology and the sciences, creating situations of exchange between natural and artificial systems. Recently his work has begun to reflect cultural associations with the science of astrobiology. Often fusing a DIY approach to scientific practice his work fuses metaphor, poetry and investigation into pieces that probe ideas of systems, otherness and the future of life. His work has been shown across Europe as well as the USA, Japan, Mexico, China and Australia and has included special commissions for new works. His installation Autoinducer_ph-1 has received honorable mentions from VIDA (2007) and Ars Electronica (2007). He has also presented at numerous conferences and seminars internationally, has written and published a number of articles and papers for books and magazines, and continues to provide a range of teaching, lecturing and workshop activities internationally. He is one of three founder members of Hackteria, an online resource and workshop program for the DIY bio-artist and enthusiast.
