[ISEA2011] Panel: Marie-Pier Boucher – Biotopo­log­i­cal Re­con­fig­u­ra­tions: Biospa­tial Af­fec­tions and In­fec­tions

Panel Statement

Panel: BioARTCAMP: Laboratory Ecologies in the Wild West

Biotopo­log­i­cal Re­con­fig­u­ra­tions will ad­dress the spa­tial re­al­ity of the BioART­CAMP. Build­ing a lab­o­ra­tory -a closed and ster­ile en­vi­ron­ment- into the wild gives birth to a pro­duc­tive re­la­tion­ship be­tween open and closed spaces, be­tween ster­ile en­vi­ron­ments and po­ten­tially in­fec­tious sites. These per­for­ma­tive re­la­tions amount to the prob­lema­ti­za­tion of biotech­no­log­i­cally shaped en­vi­ron­ments in terms of con­nec­tions be­tween mi­lieus of in­te­ri­or­ity and mi­lieus of ex­te­ri­or­ity, in terms of topo­log­i­cal con­nec­tions; biotopolo­gies. How does the open­ing up of a mi­lieu of in­te­ri­or­ity, of a closed -or ster­ile- en­vi­ron­ment, to an open -po­ten­tially in­fec­tious- space, that is to a mi­lieu of ex­te­ri­or­ity, to a space of in­de­ter­mi­nacy, to a fu­tu­rity, a chang­ing po­ten­tial, af­fects -or in­fects- liv­ing’s spa­tial con­di­tions? Draw­ing upon in­ter­views I will con­duct with all the par­tic­i­pants of the BioART­CAMP, I will offer a crit­i­cal analy­sis of the biotech fu­ture in terms of spa­tial and/or ar­chi­tec­tural tech­nol­ogy.

  • Marie-Pier Boucher is a PhD stu­dent in the de­part­ment of Art, Art His­tory and Vi­sual Stud­ies at Duke Uni­ver­sity. Her work draws upon prag­ma­tism, com­plex sys­tems the­ory, and bio- and neu­ro­sciences in ad­dress­ing ar­chi­tec­tural and spa­tial prac­tices. She col­lab­o­rates as a the­o­rist and co-ed­i­tor on Adap­tive Ac­tions (Madrid Abierto, Spain, 2010 and Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Canada, 2010) as well as on BioART­CAMP (Banff Cen­tre for the Arts, 2011). She serves on the ed­i­to­r­ial com­mit­tee of In­fleX­ions, an open-ac­cess jour­nal for re­search-cre­ation. Her re­search res­i­den­cies in­clude: Max Planck In­sti­tute for the His­tory of Sci­ence, Berlin, Ger­many (2010) and Sym­bi­ot­icA, Cen­ter for Ex­cel­lence in Bi­o­log­i­cal Arts, Uni­ver­sity of West­ern Aus­tralia, Perth (2006).

Full text (PDF) p. 245-250 [different title!]