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THE
EIGHTH DAY, A TRANSGENIC NET INSTALLATION
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"The Eighth Day" presents an expansion of biodiversity
beyond wildtype life forms. As a self-contained artificial ecological
system it resonates with the words in the title, which add one day
to the period of creation of the world as narrated in the Judeo-Christian
Scriptures. All of the transgenic creatures in "The Eighth Day"
are created through the cloning of a gene that codes for the production
of green fluorescent protein (GFP). As a result, all creatures express
the gene through bioluminescence visible with the naked eye. The transgenic
creatures in "The Eighth Day" are GFP plants, GFP amoeba,
GFP fish, and GFP mice.
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A biobot is a robot with an active biological element within
its body which is responsible for aspects of its behavior. The biobot
created for "The Eighth Day" has a colony of GFP amoeba
called Dyctiostelium discoideum as its "brain cells". These
"brain cells" form a network within a bioreactor that constitutes
the "brain structure" of the biobot. When amoebas divide
the biobot exhibits dynamic behavior inside the enclosed environment.
Changes in the amoebal colony (the "brain cells") of the
biobot are monitored by it, and cause it to slowly go up and down,
or to move about, throughout the exhibition. Ascending and descending
motion becomes a visual sign of increase (ascent) and decrease (descent)
of amoebal activity. The biobot also functions as the avatar of
Web participants inside the environment. Independent of the ascent
and descent of the biobot, Web participants are able to control its
audiovisual system with a pan-tilt actuator. The autonomous ascent
and descent motion provide Web participants with a new perspective
of the environment.
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The biobot has a biomorphic form and the "amoebal brain"
is visible through the transparent bioreactor. In the gallery, visitors
are able to see the terrarium with transgenic creatures from outside
and inside the dome, as a computer in the gallery gives local visitors
an exact sense of what the experience is like on the Internet. By
enabling participants to experience the environment inside the dome
from the point of view of the biobot, "The Eighth Day"
creates a context in which participants can reflect on the meaning
of a transgenic ecology from a first-person perspective.
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"The Eighth Day" team: Sheilah Britton, Producer, Gene Cooper, Web design and development, Charles Kazilek, Visualization, Assegid Kidané, Biobot Imaging and Control Hardware Design, David Lorig, Biobot design and fabrication, George Pawl, Installation design and fabrication, Kelly Phillips, Installation design and fabrication, Jeanne Wilson-Rawls, Biologist, Jeffery Alan Rawls, Biologist, Anish Adalja, Graphic design, Sree Chattergee, Office assistant, Oguzhan Cifdaloz, Biobot Camera Control Hardware Design, Patricia Clark, Video editing, Dan Collins, ISA Interim Director (2000-2001), Matt Coon, Fabrication assistant, Barbara Eschbach, Computing Commons Gallery Director, Isa Gordon, Fabrication assistant, photographer, Steven Kostell, Videographer, video editing, Richard Loveless former ISA Director (1991-2000), Grant Orvis, Biology assistant, Emily Puthoff, Fabrication assistant, Jennifer Pringle, Publicity, Bonnie Rigmaiden, Administrative Assistant, Thanassis Rikakis, ISA Director, Frances Salas, Business Manager, James Stewart, Biobot 3D modeling, Anna Vida, Production assistance, videographer. Special thanks to: Dale Denardo, University Veterinarian, ASU Glass Shop, Jim Campbell, Consultant, and Factor II, Inc., Consultants. Additional thanks to Andras Nagy, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto; Richard Firtel, University of California, San Diego; Chi-Bin Chien, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and Neal Stewart, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
"The Eigth Day" would not have been possible without everyone listed above. "The Eighth Day" was developed through a two-year residency (2000-2001) at the Institute of Studies in the Arts, Arizona State University, Tempe.
Picture credits: 1a - Biobot photograph by Isa Gordon; 1b - Environment photograph by Eduardo Kac; 2a - Green mice bred by Dr. Alan Rawls and Dr. Jeanne Wilson Rawls, Arizona State University, specially for "The Eigth Day" from a gfp line originally developed by Dr. Andras Nagy, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute, Toronto. Photo: Still from video by Isa Gordon; 2b - Green fish bred by Dr. Alan Rawls and Dr. Jeanne Wilson Rawls, Arizona State University, specially for "The Eigth Day" from a gfp line originally developed by Dr.Chi-Bin Chien, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. Photo: Still from video by Gene Cooper. 3a - Green Dictyostelium discoideum, courtesy Richard Firtel, University of California, San Diego; 3b - Tobacco plant with green fluorescent protein gene, courtesy Charles Neal Stewart, Jr., Department of Biology, University of North Carolina, Greensboro , Greensboro, NC. 4a and 4b - Screen shots of the web interface of "The Eighth Day" showing the overhead view (left) and the biobot's point of view (right).