BIO-ART FEATURE, Nantes France, 2003

ART IMITATES LIFE-SCIENCE
The Bio-Art Movement Finds (Cultures & Grows) Its Wings in France
Text and photos: Shana Ting Lipton

NANTES, France-
This was the birthplace of science fiction writer Jules Verne. And during W=
orld War I, it was here that surrealist king pin Andre Breton met a wound=
ed soldier in a hospital ward whose conviction that art was nonsense was on=
e of the catalysts for the Surrealism and Dada art movements. Verne was a w=
riter who read scientific journals and incorporated them into his fantastic=
al literary works. Breton and his ilk, called upon the Freudian world of ps=
ychoanalysis and dreams for inspiration in their artistic forays. These cru=
de and early hybrids of the arts were conceived here in Nantes. They crosse=
d boundaries and found ways to marry science and art.
It's March 13th, 2003. It's a chilly, gray day in downtown Nantes. A walk o=
ver a bridge and just past some railroad tracks takes me to the foot of the=
huge cement building. It used to be the LU biscuit factory, but just three=
years ago it was transformed into the cultural center, Le Lieu Unique. Fou=
nded by 'the French pope of alternative culture' Jean Blaise. Its raison-d'=
etre is to provide an all-purpose locale (cafe/bar, gallery, lecture sp=
ace, bookstore, restaurant) where the arts and everyday life can seamlessly=
co-habitate, far from the alienating snobbery of the Paris art scene. It's=
a sort of casual open forum for diverse ideas.

For the next couple of months, the image of a large fluorescent green rabbi=
t is draped over the side of Le Lieu Unique (known to locals in its former =
nomenclature, LU). Beneath it are the words "L'Art Biotech" (translation: b=
io-art), heralding a two-month long exhibit and a one-day symposium in the =
name of a growing art-meets-science movement.

Full article at:
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