Mendel's Legacy: Exploring Bacterial Genomics through Art
· talk
Alex May and Anna Dumitriu gave a lecture at the Mendel Museum in Brno on Sequence, using bacterial genomics to connect microbiology, data, privacy, and digital art.
Alex May gave Mendel’s Legacy: Exploring Bacterial Genomics through Art with Anna Dumitriu at the Mendel Museum in Brno on 28 November 2015. The lecture centred on Sequence, using the project to discuss how whole genome sequencing can move beyond laboratory procedure and become material for artistic and cultural reflection.
The presentation focused on Dumitriu’s use of genomic data from Staphylococcus aureus, sequenced as part of the wider project, and set that work against concerns around privacy, the commercialisation of data, infectious disease, and the shortage of new antibiotic treatments. For May, the talk highlighted how digital systems do not simply represent scientific knowledge but actively shape how that knowledge is interpreted, experienced, and shared with the public.
Within the wider practice, the lecture made clear how May’s role in collaborative bio-digital projects extends beyond technical production. By helping translate sequencing data, software process, and visual form into a public-facing work, he contributes to a practice that treats scientific information as something cultural, political, and experiential rather than purely instrumental.