The Living Deck Bio Art Hangout with Marta de Menezes
At IOTA Institute Bio Art Kitchen Livestream
Hosted through IOTA Institute and INCUBATOR Art Lab
Written by: Kadila Adili
The Living Deck Bio Art Hangout with Marta de Menezes was live streamed on May 6th. Marta de Menezes is a Portuguese artist. She is currently the artistic director of Ectopia, an experimental art lab in Lisbon, and Director of Cultivamos Cultura in South Portugal. The hangout included five other artists: Mary Maggic, Becka Barker, Joel Ong, Kelly Schnare, and Jennifer Willet, who played the first bio art card game. The game prompted questions about the boundaries and challenges of the bio art world.
During the game, there was a lot of discussion surrounding nature, identity, collaboration, methodology, and science. As Mary Maggic says, “Bio art is bending the definition of nature”. Menezes explores this concept through her work with the Tetrahymena thermophila—an organism with seven different sexes who can adapt to their environment by creating the sexes they need. She also spoke about Cultivamos Cultura and engaging the community through bio art. The discussion then led to her methodology and differences between the scientific method. Her first step is empathy and the importance of being able to see things from a different perspective.
Menezes’ upcoming project involves removing immune B-cells from her body, reverting them to stem cells, then re-differentiating them into different tissues. Regenerative biology is an exciting area for scientists and bio artists alike, with great potential for the future of bio art.
To watch the The Living Deck Bio Art Hangout with Marta de Menezes check out IOTA Institute's YouTube Channel
THE LIVING DECK—Livestream Bio Art Kitchen Hangout with Marta de Menezes
To learn more about the artist Marta de Menezes link to
IOTA Institute Artist Marta de Menezes
To view Marta de Menezes projects and work link to martademenezes.com/
Image Credit:
1) MARTA DE MENEZES at THE IOTA BIO ART KITCHEN SERIES, The Living Deck poster, IOTA Institute & INCUBATOR Art Lab, 2021.
2) Screenshot of the Bio Art Kitchen Hangout with Marta de Menezes, IOTA Institute & INCUBATOR Art Lab, 2021.
3) The Living Deck Bio Art Kitchen Hangout with Marta de Menezes, IOTA Institute website image, 2021.
