Bioart - an experiment that could change the future of life?

Dr. Nicholas Durr's anatomy class

The spotlight shines on Dr. Durr, who manipulates a tendon with one hand and demonstrates how the hand muscles work with the other, and on the executed prisoner. The paid viewers have different expressions, each focused on different things, and the subtle differences reveal each person's personality; Meticulous dress symbolizes professional excellence and gives people a sense of immersive authenticity. This is the scene depicted in Rembrandt's famous painting "The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicholas Durr."

Anatomy classes were a social event in the Netherlands at the time, and the public could pay an entrance fee to attend them in classrooms and even theatres. Dr. Doerr, who wears the hat in the painting, does not perform dissections publicly in reality, leaving the task to his assistants. But Rembrandt dramatised the portraits in such a way that the ordinary dead became the center of gravity, rather than only the executed Jesus could be included in the artwork, and here science replaced theology, and it was from the 17th century that Western science became an important foundation of the modern world.

From the survey office to the survey commune

Surveying commune

The venue for the dissection was a 15th-century building called the Waag house, which still stands in the heart of downtown Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The top floor, once home to the Guild of blacksmiths, stonemasons, painters, and surgeons, was maintained and restored several times before being leased in the 21st century to the Waag Society, a research institute that promotes the interaction of scientific, cultural, and artistic experiments, on the second floor of the former Anatomy Theatre.

The ceiling of the building still contains drawings of the Physicians' Guild, and a copy of the Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicholas Durr hangs on the wall (the original is in the Royal Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague). In an interview, Lucas Evers from the Surveying Commune approached the painting and said: "This is probably the earliest Bio-Art collaboration in the Netherlands."

Measuring the interior of the commune

The Surveying Commune: an important force for the advancement of Dutch science and art

Founded in 1994, the Survey Commune is an important promoter of Dutch science, culture and art. One of its branches, the Open Wetlab, focuses on the study of ethics in the biological sciences and life. They advocate that bioscience should be integrated with the social environment, using the participation of artists, designers and the public to create new media forms and promote the development of biotechnology on a global scale as a catalyst. The objects of study are living things, such as plants, animals and people; Existing projects include synthetic bulletproof skin, microbial research, stem cell breeding teeth, and open genomes.

The biological sciences use living systems and organisms to develop and produce useful products, and artists use this scientific experimental method to create a series of works with a new aesthetic perspective and attitude toward the growth of living bodies.

According to Lucas Evers, managing curator of Arts, Science and Technology at the Measuring Commune and founder of Open Wetlab, the Measuring Commune is neither a curator nor an organiser at this stage. Its collaborators include organizers The Hague Medical Research Council (ZonMW), curators MU Art Space Eindhoven, and artists, most of whom have collaborated on proposals with scientific institutes such as OpenWetLab. Bio Art Laboratories is run by artist Jalila Essaidi.

Lucas Evers is the managing planner for Arts, Science and Technology at the Measuring Commune

The Survey Commune's projects also include the Do It Yourself Human Enhancement Clinic, which conducts experiments on human improvement primarily from an artistic and designer perspective. Future Emerging Art and Technology brings artists into the lab to work on quantum computing, quantum physics, synthetic materials, CRISPR Cas9-targeted gene editing technology, supercomputers, and group robotics; The BioHack Academy hosts a 10-week program that allows artists and students to work with scientific researchers to develop and run open source LABS.

Paul Vanouse's "Suspect Inversion Center"

The arts of bioscience can have a positive economic, social and educational impact. Once open genomics is put on the market, users can generate their own DNA through technical tools for molecular diagnosis and reduce medical costs. Open PCR, for example, is a machine that costs a fraction of the market price and can be made affordable to a large number of people. In addition, artists as explorers can help academic researchers continue their research in the field of life sciences more comprehensively.

Bioart Lab: A vast interactive network

The Bioart Lab Foundation was founded by Juliela Essadi, winner of the Biotechnology Art and Design Award co-organized by the Surveying Commune. Having grown up in an entrepreneurial family, Juliela understands the value of cross-cutting and good ideas from different fields and how to capitalize on them.