I like art. I almost went to an art school to become an artist instead of an engineering school. I was at first intrigued by what my school was doing, a “BioArt” exhibit. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it?

From Lab Work to Artwork: New Initiative Melds Biotechnology, Electronic Art
“Through ongoing art and research exhibitions open to the public, the BioArt program at Rensselaer will bridge the arts and sciences in a very real, very tangible way,” said Kathy High, head of the Arts Department and one of three faculty members leading the initiative. “I see the discipline as a way to allow all people to feel involved and participate in the advances made in biotechnology.”

I was walking through the Biotech building on my way to lab when a large poster caught my eye (it was new). Stopping to take a look, I saw a poster of artist Caitlin Berrigan inserting a butterfly needle into a vein in her arm. Another section of the poster showed her dripping the freshly removed blood over a terrarium of dandelions. The caption detailed how she ate dandelion root as a medicine for Hepatitis C, so she was “giving back” to the dandelions by giving them some of her own blood.

That’s something that makes you stop and go “hmm”. Not a good “this is enlightening me”-hmm. More like a “how did they convince the administration this was a good idea”-hmm.

More details after the jump.

Another poster showed some Hepatitis C chocolate truffles that she makes, while another displayed a Hepatitis C geodome that she lives in. And apparently she is going to be living at RPI for a week, handing out these truffles.

“Sentimental Objects in Attempts to Befriend a Virus,” one of the first BioArt exhibitions of the fall semester, will begin on Oct. 29. Artist Caitlin Berrigan will be distributing chocolate truffles shaped into the molecular structure of the hepatitis c virus from a geo-dome located in the CBIS atrium. The exhibit will run for one week.

“Certainly, scientists and engineers often have a difficult time communicating complex concepts to the general public, due in part due to the very technical language of scientific research,” said Linhardt. “The artist speaks a universal language that can better connect the public to scientific and engineering concepts in a more accessible manner.”

Mmm, bad move RPI. So we have this crazy Hepatitis C lady living in our atrium, in the middle of a research labratory, handing out chocolate truffles resembling a virus. She also happens to draw her own blood and sprinkle it on dandelions (which she eats) as some form of reciprocal generosity.

Personally, if I were those dandelions, there is no way in hell I’d want any of her generosity. Poor dandelions have HepC now.

Artists may speak a universal language but this “artist” is not connecting to anyone. The posters of her drawing blood are not really something I want to see on a daily basis as I go to lab. I can guarantee that prospective students and their parents will not enjoy them. If my mother saw them on a college visit trip, she would be quite upset. Furthermore, this artist’s chocolate truffles are in extremely poor taste. If I had Hepatitis C and was struggling against it for my life, someone trivializing the subject with chocolate would be very offensive.

This isn’t educating the public. This isn’t connecting to people, or good art. Its not even really art. It is a crazy lady living in our lab. If RPI wants to display BioArt, they should do it elsewhere in a more public space. Get them out of the Biotech building where people are actually trying to work.