In 1933, Alexander Fleming, who discovered penicillin in 1927, exhibited his ‘germ paintings’. It was the origin of “Bio Art” that represents a crossover of art and the biological sciences with genes, proteins, cells and animals. Fleming’s early works were reductively judged in the terms of its aesthetic criteria, beauty. In this year, our project consists of two interrelated themes.

1. We try to create a new tool for “germ paintings” by integrating cell-to-cell communication with motility and color.

See COLOR, SIGNAL and MOTILITY

2. We make art works using genetic engineered bacteria. Through making art works, we also consider biomedia and bioethics in the context of synthetic biology.

Such artworks can give rise to a number of issues and metaphors accompanying the advance of science and technology. Because bio art is still at the threshold of definition, there are few interdisciplinary works such as collaborations between bio-artists and synthetic biologists. Given this condition, we will try to accomplish the interactive evolution of "ColorColi (biological painting tool)" and "Bio art works".

Expression range of art is limited by media, each of which has several limitations about forms of expression, and if we get new media, the expression range is enhanced. The more wide the expression range become, the more wide possibilities of art works become. In reverse, by the same token, specific demands from artists to media will make advances in media and finally expand possibility of art. In our project, which theme is BioArt, medium is created by using parts and devices of genetical engineering and biotechnology, so we can develop science and engineering by creating art works through this project.

BioArt is activity making art works by using biomedia, in our project E-coli, and make us to create New tool, expression and ethics. This means that BioArt provides requests from object to biosystem as methods. We tackle to make biosystem because of these requests, and making system will stimulate the imagination of creators by enhancing limitation of tool. Thus, we can make progresses both in BioArt and BioSystem with effects of results from the counter-part.

We named the results of our science activity "Colrcoli" and developed it in three categories "Color", "Signal" and "Motility". We used it as a tool for art and making a piece of work.