By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Relationships between science and art, Seattle and Israel, and the Fred Hutchinson Center Research Center and the Weizmann Institute came together recently on the University of Washington campus.
At a gala event on April 11, the Pacific Northwest Region of the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science (ACWIS), in conjunction with the Gene(sis), Contemporary Art Explores Human Genomics exhibit currently on view at the Henry Art Gallery on the University of Washington campus, brought Dr. Ilan Chet, the newly appointed president of the Weizmann Institute, to Seattle.
Billed as “A Celebration of Science and Art,” the evening was a testimonial to the merging of creative expression and the science of genetics at the world-class Israeli research facility in Rehovot, Israel. The center commissioned artist and photographer Catherine Wagner to photograph the insides of cells and document the cell structure as well as the process of cell replication using high-tech magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) technology.
Wagner, a renowned artist who has focused on science and technology in our culture for the last 12 years of her work, is also one of the artists whose work is being shown in the Gene(sis) exhibit.
Cantorial soloists Chava and Julie Mirel opened the evening by performing both the Israeli and the U.S. national anthems.
Dr. Lee Hartwell, president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, professor of genome sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine and recipient of the 2001 Nobel Prize in physiology and medicine, spoke on the topic of human genomics. The University of Washington’s Division of Genetic Pathology is one of the sponsors of the Gene(sis) exhibit at the Henry Gallery.
The Weizmann Institute has a scientist-to-scientist agreement with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and places several doctoral students at the Hutchinson Center each year.
“This is the largest event ever held here in the Pacific Northwest for the Weizmann Institute,” said Jay Leipzig, senior vice president of resource development for the ACWIS. “We have 12 regional offices around the U.S.,” and it’s the first time the president of the institute has ever visited here.”
Chet, who has been at the institute only four months, received the Israel Prize for his work in agricultural biology while he was at Hebrew University. He is one of Israel’s most distinguished scientists and is a world authority on microbiology. His work focuses on the biological control of plant disease using environmentally friendly microorganisms. He has published more that 330 papers that have been published in international scientific journals and he holds 30 patents.
“Plant genetics is a matter of survival in terms of food production,” said Marty Kraar, the executive vice president of ACWIS. “Without genetic intervention, we won’t be able to prevent disease, provide better nutrition and increase the food supply. The Weizmann Institute is one of the seven or eight world-class institutions in the world doing this kind of research.”
But genetic research and its potential uses are not without its skeptics.
Since 2000, when the completion of the rough draft of the human genome was announced, controversy has continued to swirl around the ethical and moral issues regarding the use of DNA. The issues include ownership, personal privacy, therapeutic and reproductive cloning and the manipulation of genetic material inside the cells of living organisms to block or add desired traits.
The Gene(sis) exhibit, which features more than 50 works by more than 20 artists, is meant to encourage discussion and awareness about these issues.
Gene(sis) is structured around four major themes that are always present in the scientific discussion on the genome: sequence, specimen, boundary and subject.
Whether the exhibit subjects are “18 Frogs with Pants” or “Six Mice Bred for Human Diseases” or photos of human subjects with animallike faces, Gene(sis) is meant to provoke and challenge our usual notions of who we think we are and how we might be connected to all forms of life.
Catherine Wagner’s work, which documents images in contemporary science, is in the specimen section of the exhibit. Her black-and-white photos feature the contents of everyday storage units used in labs during research. The somewhat disheveled “closets” reveal a very common, very human aspect within this very cutting-edge scientific process. Other of Wagner’s photos feature minus-80-degree freezers that are also used to store cell lines and other materials in the lab.
“I think she makes a very valuable contribution to the exhibit,” said Robin Held, assistant curator at the Henry and creator of the exhibit, commenting on Wagner’s work. “She’s one of a handful of artists who have worked in a sustained way at the intersection of science and art. She is critically engaged and she creates visually compelling work. I’ve always admired the way she documents the management and archiving of the day-to-day, mundane activity of science.”
In her book Cross Sections, which was funded by a private donation through the Weizmann Institute, Wagner tries to expose the inner beauty contained within a cell wall. She photographs the process of cell replication using high-tech imaging equipment to show the relationship between science and popular culture.
“She has perfected the art of science art,” Kraar said. “This book came out of slides that were produced at the Weizmann Institute. It’s made a contribution to science and it’s increased sensitivity about cell growth within the cellular structure. It creates conversation about life. Science is not a mystery. It’s a function of life. This is life.”
The Gene(sis) exhibit will be at the Henry Art Gallery through Aug. 26.