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The Prix Ars Electronica Archive is a collection enabling search and viewing of all the submissions since 1987. The award-winning projects are documented with catalogue texts and audio-visual media. All other submissions can be searched by title/artist and displayed with year, category in list form. Please cite the credits (artwork name, artist and photographer) and only use the materials if your article is related to Ars Electronica.
Pigeon d'Or
Tuur Van Balen
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The city is a vast and incredibly complex metabolism in which the human species is the tiniest of fractions; tiny and yet intrinsically linked into an organic embroidery beyond our understanding. It is within this complex fabric that (future) biotechnologies will end up. _Pigeon d’Or_ proposes the use of feral pigeons as a platform and interface for synthetic biology in an urban environment by attempting to make a pigeon defecate soap.
By modifying the metabolism of pigeons, synthetic biology allows us to add new functionality to what are commonly seen as “flying rats.” A special bacteria has been designed and created that, when fed to pigeons, turns feces into detergent and is as harmless to pigeons as yoghurt is to humans.
Through the pursuit of manipulating pigeon excrement and designing appropriate architectural interfaces, the project explores the ethical, political, practical and aesthetic consequences of designing biology.
Two objects are being presented in the project. The first is a contraption that allows these pigeons to become part of your house, part of the architecture. This pigeon house is attached to your windowsill and allows you to feed the pigeons and to separate and select them and direct them through different exits. It facilitates bespoke urban disinfection.
The second artefact is an interface for a parked automobile, allowing the soap produced to land on the windscreen. For this object, bacteria have been designed and created that specifically produce a biological window soap. These bacteria produce lipase and lower the pH to attack the grease and dirt on the windscreen.
Pigeons and feral pigeons present themselves as the ideal platform and interface for urban biotechnologies. While seen by many as pests, one could argue that they’re actually a product of biotechnology, as their ancestors were designed to look pretty, deliver post, spy, tumble or race. The project draws on the rich culture around pigeon racing.
Links: http://www.tuurvanbalen.com/projects/pigeon-dor
By modifying the metabolism of pigeons, synthetic biology allows us to add new functionality to what are commonly seen as “flying rats.” A special bacteria has been designed and created that, when fed to pigeons, turns feces into detergent and is as harmless to pigeons as yoghurt is to humans.
Through the pursuit of manipulating pigeon excrement and designing appropriate architectural interfaces, the project explores the ethical, political, practical and aesthetic consequences of designing biology.
Two objects are being presented in the project. The first is a contraption that allows these pigeons to become part of your house, part of the architecture. This pigeon house is attached to your windowsill and allows you to feed the pigeons and to separate and select them and direct them through different exits. It facilitates bespoke urban disinfection.
The second artefact is an interface for a parked automobile, allowing the soap produced to land on the windscreen. For this object, bacteria have been designed and created that specifically produce a biological window soap. These bacteria produce lipase and lower the pH to attack the grease and dirt on the windscreen.
Pigeons and feral pigeons present themselves as the ideal platform and interface for urban biotechnologies. While seen by many as pests, one could argue that they’re actually a product of biotechnology, as their ancestors were designed to look pretty, deliver post, spy, tumble or race. The project draws on the rich culture around pigeon racing.
Links: http://www.tuurvanbalen.com/projects/pigeon-dor
In collaboration with James Chappell at the Centre for Synthetic Biology, Imperial College London. Thanks to Pieter Baert, Jan Boelen, Rob Culverhouse, Simon Delobel, Cate Edgar, Toby Hadden, Keith Plastow, Albert Stratton, Kasper Van Rompay & Joep Verburg. Supported by the Flemish Authorities
Tuur Van Balen (BE), born 1981, uses design to explore the political implications of emerging technologies. Through designing and experimenting with new interactions, he constructs thought-provoking new realities. Both the process of creating these objects, interventions and narratives as well as the resulting physical presence aim to confuse, question and confront different publics with the possible (and impossible) roles of technologies in our everyday lives. Since 2008, Tuur has been working on bringing design into the world of synthetic biology and vice versa. He has exhibited and presented his work in various contexts, both within the UK and abroad.