Collapse (2010/12). 12’ x
15’ x 15’. Mixed media installation including 26,162
preserved specimens representing 370 species, glass,
preservative solutions.
In collaboration with Todd
Gardner, Jack Rudloe,
Brian Schiering and Peter
Warny. Installed at Ronald
Feldman Fine Arts, New
York, NY (spring 2012).
Photograph by Varvara
Mikushkina, image courtesy of the artist.
and ecosystems. Bringing this message to the
public underlies all of my work in science and
art—what I call an impetus for “ecosystem
activism.” Here my field investigations and
laboratory programs stress public involvement
and engagement. In 2009, I coined the term
“Participatory Biology” to describe these
forms of citizen contributory science that also
importantly facilitate participant reflection
as part of the research process. Pragmatically,
this has involved recruiting volunteers to aid
in biology studies, and creating temporary
research laboratories, namely Public Bio-Art
Labs, which is open to general audiences. While
conducting such primary research experiments
scientific methods and standards are rigorously
followed; however the process of science is
made transparent, participatory, and reflective
at a non-specialist group level.
Likewise, in ecological field surveys I
encourage public participation, what I call
“Eco-Actions.” Here citizens contribute by
actively helping to collect data on wildlife
and monitor wetlands, and in turn learn more
about the ecology and biodiversity of where
they live. These Eco-Actions attempt to focus
participants on specific ecosystems through
experiential methods and basic scientific
wetland-surveying techniques. Participants are
also encouraged to express their experiences
SciArt in America February 2014
through making art. By looking, hands-on
science, and artistic reflection, participants
learn and generate knowledge about local
ecosystems and the organisms they share
their neighborhoods with. These kinds of
experientially-based Participatory Biology
programs allow for citizens to become directly
involved in research and experience a side of
nature many have not.
SAiA: In your “Malamp” series, you investigate
the array of deformities found in amphibians,
the causes of which are the subject of your
scientific research as well. Altered to reveal
bone structure and then scanned, these works
exist ultimately as photographs. How did you
begin this project, and what do you hope can be
gained from the viewing experience?
BB: For over a decade, a central focus of
both my art and scientific research has been
the occurrence of developmental deformities
and population declines among amphibians.
Amphibians as a group are in crisis—with
estimates at over 40 percent of the known
7,000 species in decline or already extinct.
Learning what we can about them and
developing strategies for their conservation may
be vital for their survival, as well as countless
other species impacted by their loss—even our
own.
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