Blue Morph
Aesthetic, interaction, and technical design of the interactive platform on Blue Morph, Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski's bio-art installation, during my UCLA Art|Sci period.
What it is. Blue Morph is a bio-art installation by Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski, built around the nanostructure of Morpho-butterfly wing scales — color produced by physical structure and interference rather than pigment, and the sounds of a butterfly’s metamorphosis. My involvement was on the technical and interaction-design side, during the UCLA Art|Sci period when I was a Fellow / Lecturer at the Art|Sci Center and co-running LA Biohackers.
What I did. I designed the interactive platform, the seat through which a visitor’s stillness drives the piece. I began on its construction, the credit Harvestworks lists, and grew into its aesthetic and interaction design: how it looked, how it sat, and how the visitor’s body and quiet became the input. The installation is Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski’s.
Why it’s here. This was one of the first times I worked on the build side of someone else’s art-science work, and it fed directly into how I later ran exhibition teams.
Collaborators
- Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski — lead artists
- UCLA Art|Sci Center + Lab — program context
Press and references
Related projects
- 2010–2014
LA Biohackers
Co-founded a non-institutional community group with the goal of an open community biolab in Los Angeles. Active 2010–2014, alongside fellowship and lectureship at the UCLA Art|Sci Center.
- 2011
BioForge — DIYbio at MICROWAVE 2011
A public hands-on DIYbio genomic-exploration installation I led at the MICROWAVE International New Media Arts Festival in Hong Kong, on behalf of the UCLA Art|Sci Center. I called it BioForge.
- 2019–2020
RegisTree
My piece in The End of You, the immersive exhibition that opened at Gray Area in San Francisco in 2020. Credited as lead artist on RegisTree within the series.