Category: Science & Technology

From The Technological Herbarium, by Gianna Maria Gatti – Interactive Plant Growing and Trans Plant by Christa Sommerer and Laurent Mignonneau (translated by Alan N. Shapiro)

Christa Sommerer has a strong interest in botany: she dedicated herself to this after her secondary studies, enrolling in the Faculty of Biology and Botany of Vienna. Her intention was to investigate nature with methods suitable to the classification of plants for the purpose of achieving the formulation of systematic rules.

October 4, 2010
From The Technological Herbarium, by Gianna Maria Gatti – Nerve Garden by Bruce Damer (translated by Alan N. Shapiro)

All images © Copyright Bruce Damer, embedded here with the permission of the artist. Nerve Garden is a three-dimensional virtual world accessible on the Internet, a “Public Terrarium in Cyberspace,” according to the definition of its authors, where the users of the Net can sow and witness the growth of virtual plants.

October 4, 2010
Interview with AVINUS Press about The Technological Herbarium

AVINUS Press (Anabelle Assaf): Worum geht es im Technologischen Herbarium? (Kunst? Technologie? Natur? Informatik?) Welche Art von Kunstwerken hat die Autorin gewählt, und was macht diese so besonders? What is The Technological Herbarium about? (art? technology? nature? computer science?) What kind of artworks did the author choose, and what makes them so special?

September 8, 2010
The Technological Herbarium, by Gianna Maria Gatti

Gianna Maria Gatti’s book The Technological Herbarium (subtitled: “Vegetable Nature and New Technologies in Art Between the Second and Third Millennia”) is a study of “interdisciplinary” works of art that exemplify the increasing importance of science and technology in artistic creation. Her analysis, however, goes beyond that of a journalistic or curatorial survey of artworks.

July 29, 2010
Alan N. Shapiro interviewed by Gerry Ryan

I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Gerry Ryan on April 30, 2010, Ireland’s premier radio and television broadcaster and interviewer. Gerry was a great communicator. Gerry was a huge Star Trek fan. On June 1, 2005, I was interviewed for 45 minutes by Gerry on the Gerry Ryan Show.

July 23, 2010
Data and Baudrillard, by Franco La Polla

This is a translation of one chapter of Franco La Polla’s book Star Trek: Foto di Gruppo con Astronave. La Polla is a distinguished Professor of the History of North American Culture at the University of Bologna. He has written and published three amazing books on Star Trek.

June 25, 2010