Trust me, I’m an artist

The project Trust Me, I’m an Artist – Developing Ethical Frameworks for Artists, Cultural Institutions andAudiences Engaged in the Challenges of Creating and Experiencing New Art Forms in Biotechnology and Biomedicine in Europe has propagated innovative artistic production in biotechnology and biomedicineby:

Commissioning artworks that are collaborations between artists and scientists in the field of biotechnology and biomedicine with artists such as Martin O’Brien (UK), Spela Petric (SLO), Gina Czarnecki, Rod Dillon & John Hunt (UK), Jennifer Willet (CAN), Kira O’Reilly (UK), Howard Boland (UK), Maja Smrekar (SLO), Anna Dumitriu (UK), Mari Keto (FIN) & Erich Berger (FIN); David Blandy & Larry Achiampong (UK) and Francois-Joseph Lapointe (CAN). All artworks deal with and incorporate scientific findings and knowledge, laboratory techniques and theirmeanings, reflection on and elements of ethical complexities as found in bio sciences research.
These works are presented via the innovative format of Trust me, I’m an artist where an ethical evaluation panel consisting of ethical and artistic experts assesses and judges the artwork, its meaning and possible ethical implications as if it were research in biotechnology and biomedicine. The way these artworks investigate the ethical complexities in biotechnology and biomedicine and the way these art works have been presented via the format of Trust me, I’m an artist, to both a professional and generally informed audience has strongly contributed to the skills to better understand ethics of techno-sciences research such as clinical experiments, welfare of test animals, patient data protection, the understanding of ecological and human risk of biotechnologies and the understanding of the way ethics evaluation panels work in science.

From the other side the project has also informed and influenced professional practitioners in science, humanities and science & technology studies. The project researched the way in which the arts can take on the role to sensitise, convey, transmit, the ethical ambiguities and complexities found in biotechnologies and biomedicine and emerging technologies at large. Participating artists and curators have widely published about their work in the project via blogs and notably articles in the widely known art-science magazine Leonardo Journal (MIT Press). In addition to that a white paper has been written about the way this practice of can be furthered to create more innovative artworks and create more understanding about ethics in this context to reach out to the public. Social sciences scholar Wieke Betten has in part written her PhD research based on the project at Free University Amsterdam. A second PhD research is currently finalised by Agnieszka Wolodzko at University of Leiden. Professor of ethics at Delft University of Technology has been publishing articles about the project while participating in two of the ethics panel events as chair.
(Source: EC; look also Zavod Kersnikova)

Zavod Kersnikova

(Partner)

All projects of Slovenian producer

Foreign producers in the supported project

Stichting Waag Society (leader)

Netherlands (EU)
CIANT International Centre for Art and New Technologies (partner)

Czech Republic (EU)
Københavns Universitet (partner)

Denmark (EU)
The Arts Catalyst (partner)

United Kingdom (EU)

Funded projects

Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices

Open House Europe (OHEu)

Third Stage

VERSOPOLIS – WHERE POETRY LIVES

Uncomfortable Beings, Azra, Best Imaginary Friends Forever

LINA - Learn, Interact, and Network in Architecture

Reactivating unused urban spaces through architecture and arts (ReCITYing)

Art Nouveau: a new EUtopia

Creative Industries Development Centre (KUL)

Web 3.0 Accelerator for Sustainable Cultural Tourism (Web3Tour)

Studiotopia: Enter the Symbiocene with Arts and Science (Studiotopia 2)

Bio Awakening - developing bio-art practices in Western Balkan

TestArt

GREENSTAGE

Climate Art Fusion Caravane (CARAVANE)

Connecting Emerging Literary Artists (CELA)

Cultural BEES

Transmedia stories of insularity (TRAST)

Female Digital Creativity (FLUX)

Planet Hope (New European Fiction) (PH)

More than a Story (MTaS)

Our Little Library: Through literary bridges to reading adventures (OLLLB)

Connected with Books (CWB)

Operation Nova

Moving Balkans

Exploring Expanded Publishing: EX-Pub

Thinking Publishing (ThinkPub)

Novel Europe (NovelEU)

REVIVE

Temporama: Mini Slate 2023

Studi Virc: Mini Slate 2023

The 10th and 11th edition of FeKK - Ljubljana Short Film Festival

The 20th and 21st Kino Otok - Isola Cinema International Film Festival

20. and 21. ANIMATEKA International animated film festival

Film in Hospital 2.0

EU Youth Cinema: Green Deal 2024-2026

Cinema without barriers (CWB)

Literary Agent Platform: Capacity building (LAP CB)

Tramal Films Mini Slate 22 (TFMini22)

Vertigo Slate 2022: Chestnuts, Memory of Autumn Mists, OHO, Splashing around

Staragara slate 22

Our Little Library: Literary exchanges

Testing Ground (TestG)

Better Live

Variola - Dark Spring TV series

SEMA

Paradiso

Leave the door open

The Big Green

The Long Way Down

New approaches for local media (NEWLOCAL)

Life Long Burning – Futures Lost and Found (LLB3)

Time For Live Art (LIVETIME)

Our Little Library: Literary Exchanges

Women Power in Comics (WOMCOM)

Movement, Digital Intelligence and Interactive Audience (MODINA)

Fortissimo. An interactive digital tool that brings kids closer to classical music (FF)

Spring Cleaning

Animation Festival Network

CulturalDeTour - Sustainable Cultural Tourism by Design Driven Innovation

Building the future of democracy through art, science and technology (EUDigitalDeal)

The Museum of the Commons. Towards a Healthier Arts Ecosystem (MoC)

ACT: Art, Climate, Transition

Baths, gothic churches and miners’ houses

Fake Lies

THE FILM CORNER RELOADED - A CULTURAL APPROACH

CINEMINI EUROPE

FC Freedom

Body

Movies in Motion

Voix de la Poesie Europeenne

Trust me, I'm an artist

The Faces Behind the Nose - Promoting Hospital Clowning as a Recognized Genre of Performing Arts

SYMBOLS - Culture of Death& Cultural Life: New audiences and creations around European Cemeteries!

SWICH - Sharing a World of Inclusion, Creativity and Heritage

SPECTRUM 14|15

Small Size, Performing Arts for Early Years

Performing the Museum

Masters & Servers: Networked Culture in the Post-Digital Age