Explore the blueprints that underlie life in NYC’s urban public spaces. Join DIYBio at the greenmarket in Tompkins Square Park to extract DNA from locally grown produce!
DIYbioNYC will be presenting this playful DNA Extraction party as part of ConfluxCity, an event to be held throughout New York on Sunday September 20th, the final day of the annual Conflux festival.
When: Sunday, September 20th from 1:00-3:00pm
Where: Tompkins Square Park (E. 7th Street & Ave A)
From our flyer:
"Imagine exploring New York from the inside out. Most of daily interactions with the city take place in the psychological space that starts from the self and extends into the human-scale world. But there’s an invisible puppet master behind life in New York—one that creates the whole but remains out of sight, too small to see, locked behind our clothes, our skins, even the membranes of our cells. Imagine putting on special set of glasses that enlarged the tiny and shucked away the quotidian. Imagine going to a Tompkins Square Greenmarket, but instead of seeing people doing their daily fruit and vegetable shopping, you saw a schematic for the fruit, the plant that grew them, the lineage of plants before it, even the pathogens it fought along the way. You’d be seeing the world through DNA.After buying some produce at the market, visit our outdoor lab at the SW edge of the park. With some common household objects, and a little guidance from our citizen scientists, you’ll extract the DNA from your produce, and see your food, your life, your daily routines from the inside out."
From the Conflux website:
"Conflux is the annual New York festival for contemporary psychogeography, the investigation of everyday urban life through emerging artistic, technological and social practice. At Conflux, visual and sound artists, writers, urban adventurers and the public gather for four days to explore their urban environment."
"People from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures come together at the festival to re-imagine the city as a playground, a space for positive change and an opportunity for civic engagement. The Village Voice describes Conflux as a 'network of maverick artists and unorthodox urban investigators… making fresh, if underground, contributions to pedestrian life in New York City, and upping the ante on today’s fight for the soul of high-density metropolises.'
From architects to skateboarders, Conflux participants have an enthusiasm for the city that’s contagious. Over the course of the long weekend the sidewalks are literally transformed into a mobile laboratory for creative action. With tools ranging from traditional paper maps to high-tech mobile devices, artists present walking tours, public installations and interactive performance, as well as bike and subway expeditions, workshops, a lecture series, a film program and live music performances at night."
This promises to be great fun. Hope to see you all there!
