Special Topics in Design | Media Arts: Biotechnology and Design

Bio-designers use cells, DNA molecules, proteins, and living tissues to highlight ethical, social, and aesthetic issues that influence contemporary life. Introduction to how bio-design blurs distinctions between science and design through combination of design and scientific processes, creating wide public debate. Introduction to new sciences that influence food we eat, clothes we wear, and environment in which we reside. Students challenged to think outside the box, explore divergent and convergent thinking, and seek out knowledge and inspiration from ideas that drive nano- and bio-technology. Peer collaboration encouraged to develop speculative design projects that address issues covered.
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Please contact Prof. Victoria Vesna if you are interested in joining this class.


Bioluminescent Fungi

As I watched the movie “Fantastic Fungi,” the growth and their process fascinated me. Mostly, mushrooms were made from the dead organisms as they decomposed. However, it was so interesting that new life was born through the deaths. Those mushrooms were so diverse in terms of colors, shapes, and characteristics. Among those various kinds of mushrooms, the fungi that glowed in the dark seemed very interesting and I wanted to know why and how it happened.


Earth Day app, Fungi, horseman and the bible apocalypse

I really appreciated the work of Finnish artists Pekka Niittyvirta and Timo Aho that Group 1 had presented. The installation titled Lines is a visual representation of potential elevated sea levels should we continue down this trajectory. It manages to convey complex ideas in a simple, effective and beautiful way.

Currently, especially given the limitations of the digital platform, there is a heavy emphasis on data visualization that is dependent on graphs, or charts or maps. How do we spread awareness in a way that is alarming but not overwhelming?

Earth Day

Earth Day proposition

This is a blog in response to the project proposal assignment for earth day. On Thursday we were prompted to theorize a project in response to Earth day and what that means in our new technology heavy environments. Our project was very much in the conceptual stages, we were posing questions and suggesting projects that inspired us. We concluded that the most impactful project would be one that is educational and simple.

Group Summary: Sebastian, Iman, and Shreya

During Thursday's class, Iman Person, Shreya Neogi, and I discussed Earth Day and what artists are doing around the world to commemorate its 50th anniversary. After we learned that this year also marks the 20th anniversary of the International Space Station, we stumbled across a NASA campaign dubbed "Picture Earth" that is designed to foster creativity and promote a sense of "togetherness at a distance".

Some Good News: Earth Day

            In this blog, I want to first address something that has been on my mind in the last few weeks and has recently become more and more exacerbated over the past couple days. News media outlets that I follow such as Bloomberg, Businessweek, Business Insider, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, CNN, CNBC, etc. have all posted about how radically different cities and streets in some of the world's largest metropolitan areas have looked during this pandemic.

Research from Thursday 4/16 On Data Visualization

This blog is a response to the research that was done during our class time on Thursday, April 16th, 2020. Our research was directed towards the Coronavirus pandemic, and we wanted to brainstorm ideas on creating data visualization projects related to the Coronavirus. Currently, news sites such as The New York Times have created data visualization maps that are alarming, and cause the public a sense of anxiety and panic with no hope.

Environmental Changes (Air/ Pollution) due to Coronavirus

As we discussed “pollution” in the class, we can link this topic with coronavirus as positive environmental changes are beginning to show these days. As a number of industrial companies are shut down, the air quality of the world gets better as the clear sky can be seen from the satellite.

Especially, there is one report related to the European continent that nitrogen dioxide levels in Europe become lowered. As the images are shown below, NO2 emission (the red part of the map) is shown less in April 2020 compared to 2019.

(Pollution) Affects on how Coronavirus has helped the Environment

Since the coronavirus many of us went under a lock down and under a stay- home policy. A lot of stores, factories, and shops closed down and forced the people to just stay home. Many of the industrial activity has been shut down in many part of the world especially places like in China or Europe. 

Due to the coronavirus there has been some positive affects to the environment.  As I mentioned above, the lack of industrial activity in China has helped the air pollution to drop significantly. 


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