Encoding Life with Joe Davis

Encoding Life with Joe Davis:

About Joe Davis:

Joe Davis, a bioartist and research affiliate in the Department of Biology at MIT, and in the George Church Laboratory at Harvard Medical School has played a major role in the bioart movement throughout the years. Initially gaining recognition for creating the first genetically-engineered work of art in collaboration with geneticist Dan Boyd, called Microvenus–an E. coli into which the symbol of life and femininity was encoded into–Davis has gone on to create multiple other artwork, namely Audio Microscope, "Primordial" clocks, Malus ecclesia, and Swan Song.

Microvenus and Bacterial Radio:

Microvenus, a groundbreaking project from the late 1980s, marked a significant milestone in both art and science. Collaborating with molecular biologist Dana Boyd, Davis created the first genetically engineered artwork. The piece involved encoding a binary representation of a Germanic rune—a symbol of femininity and life—into the DNA of Escherichia coli.

The inspiration for Microvenus stemmed from Davis’s critique of the Pioneer plaques, which were designed by astronomers Carl Sagan and Frank Drake to represent humanity in messages sent into space, with the intention of being intercepted by extraterrestrial life. Davis noted that the plaques' depiction of the female figure was less detailed compared to the male figure, highlighting a gender bias in how humanity chose to represent itself. In response, Microvenus offered an alternative—a powerful symbol celebrating life and femininity encoded within the essence of living organisms.

Microvenus was created by translating the rune into a binary code and then converting it into the genetic code that consists of a sequence of nucleotides, A, G, T, C. The sequence was then inserted into the DNA of E. coli. Working with binary code, Davis uses zeroes and ones as a kind of poetic meter. Joe Davis’ Microvenus “infogene” encodes and inserts the superimposed letters “Y” and “I” (a primeval Germanic rune for both “female” and “life” itself) into the bacterium, converting a graphic emblem into phase values and then into a nucleotide sequence. Copies of the bacterium were then created and sent out into space with the hope of them being found by extraterrestrial life.

Another one of his most renowned works is Bacterial Radio, a crystal radio system that uses a protein derived from marine sponges to create an electrical circuit capable of receiving AM radio transmissions. In 2012, Joe Davis received a Golden Nica at the Prix Ars Electronica for this piece, and in 2021 he was once again a welcome guest at the Ars Electronica Festival with “Baitul Ma’mur: House of Angels“.

These pieces have redefined the creative sphere within biology and art and spark conversations about the intersection of biology, technology, and art.

A sneak peack into Joe Davis' Bacterial Radio

a) The Germanic letter for “female” and “life”, translated into b) binary code and then c) a sequence of nucleotides.

E. coli multiplying exponentially in culture media

Fluorescent microscopy images of E. coli