Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology

Autonomous Public Laboratory (APL)

After Hong Kong and Boston, the ArtScienceBangalore team from the Srishti School of Art, Design & Technology, Bangalore, is now heading to New Delhi to present the Autonomous Public Laboratory (APL).

Click here for the Indian Express newspaper coverage on 26th Jan 2012.

Having won the best Human Practice Award at the prestigious International Genetically Engineered Machines (IGEM) competition at MIT in Boston, they are looking to share their practices at the India Art Fair, which is taking place at NSIC Exhibition grounds in Okhla, New Delhi.

The APL, furnished with hacked and repurposed consumer electronics, that are re-appropriated as performative and scientific tools, invites people to create local discourses around science, art and public health. The goal is to enable the public to engage with life sciences.

It is a mobile community laboratory for "outsiders" to engage with the rituals of science. The lab is the result of artists’ enquiry into science. It is the result of questioning the idea that biology or science, in general, means high-end technology and equipment. Taking forward the idea of Jugaad (being resourceful with what is accessible), the ArtScienceBangalore team constructs lab instruments out of cheap, readily available materials.

In the 4th edition of Indian Art Fair, the APL team urges to change the way people perceive the performative aspects of science by building their own community lab with experiments using Laser Microscope, Webcam Microscope, Surveillance Camera Microscopes - cheap alternatives to the scientific microscopes that are not even accessible to the masses. Their 'Symet' is a very simple form of robot that uses solar power to charge its three capacitors and at a defined voltage, releases the charge to its motor causing it to spin. They have also built an incubator which is used to simulate the body temperature (37 degree Celsius). But the experiments are not limited to biology. They will also exhibit how the public can engage in Balloon Mapping, a process where the balloon (along with the camera) is allowed to go up in the sky, and take the aerial shots.

The team has been recognized by the arts and science communities, for their unique work, that explores the intersection between the two disciplines. Being a part of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, APL will look at newer perspectives and ways in which local communities can engage in the practice of science. It will be displayed as an art project at the India Art Fair to be held on 25-29 January 2012, at NSIC Exhibition Grounds, New Delhi.

Artist/Scientist: Yashas Shetty/Mukund Thatai
4th Edition APL student team: Anupriy Kanti, Bidisha Das, Madhul Singh, Prakrithy Pradeep, Ritika Baheti, Sohil Bhatia

With support of :

ArtScienceBangalore

Center for Experimental Arts at Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology