This juicy piece of brainiac candy just arrived in my inbox so I thought I would share. I was kind of dying to write this book so I’m really glad someone has gone ahead and written and published this. The question is: “is science the new art?” Its “answer” is explored in a new book called Art in the Age of Technoscience. Its author Ingeborg Reichle covers genetic engineering, robotics, artificial life and contemporary art. The preface is by Robert Zwijnenberg.

I remember when I first wrote my independent piece on bio-art in Nantes, France, covering Eduardo Kac, Joe Davis, Orlan, etc. I tried to pitch it to the New Yorker, and snobby Peter whats-his-name wrote back and called bio-art flash-in-the-pan (rather than acknowledging its cultural relevance as a growing fringe movement) and turned his nose up at it as a lame trend.

Yet, according to this new tome, “in the last two decades a growing number of artists has left the traditional art venues to work in scientific environments like the laboratories of molecular biology, robotics and artificial life.

The illustrative publication features visuals by several artists, including some that I interviewed for that epic story: Guy Ben-Ary, Oron Catts, Ionat Zurr, Joe Davis, George Gessert, Eduardo Kac, and my old Woodstock buddy Adam Zaretsky (who introduced me to this amazing subculture way back when).

Buy it and tell the man (in this case crusty old stuff-shirt art critics for pompous irrelevant magazines) to kindly dislodge that stick from their, ahem…derrieres.

On this Mercury Retrograde I’m going “way back.” If you’ve been reading this blog for the duration of its existence (about seven years) you may recall that I used to frequently post astrological insights interspersed between pop cultural musings. Those sort of died down a bit. But now, in light of the current astro climate, I feel the need to interject. This coming week–essentially between September 8th and 13th, is a monumental one for shifts, activity, insight, breakdowns and breakthroughs.

Many astrologists (even famous mainstream ones who I will not “out” in this post) are careless with their predictions taking a single events (for example: Jupiter conjunct Mars, etc.) as proof of a certain climate and thus certain episodes that will occur as a result of said event. But really, in order to make predictions that stand any chance of holding water, you have to look for multiple transits happening at the same time that reinforce an energy vortex.

It’s like saying, “you will get a job because you have a college degree.” Well, that single factor is probably not enough to get you a job. However throw in other factors and it becomes an increasingly distinct possibility: “you will get a job because you have an undergrad and grad degree, you are well connected to people in your industry, the two companies you want to work for are hiring and you have an insider in each.” Get it?

All of this to say that there are multiple cosmic forces at work this week:

Saturn Opposition Uranus (this transit also occurred at the time that President Obama was elected). Saturn is a planet of rigidity, sobriety, practicality and function whereas Uranus represents visionary and out-of-the-box thinking, spontaneity, innovation and surprises. Their opposition would indicate a tension coming to a head between the two forces in our individual lives and cultures. Many people will want to break free from their old confines at this time. Or people who love structure and are afraid of rigidity may have no choice but to face a personal revolution in mind and spirit.

Pluto Direct Station–in a fairly close square to Mercury (retrograde) and in a looser opposition to Mars. Pluto is an underworld planet (well I know the cosmological world dissed it and said it was technically a planet but it will always be a planet to me). It represents death, sex, regeneration, investigation, spiritual growth through a breakdown in the old order or system. When a luminary as big as Pluto starts slowing down to go into direct motion after months of retrograde motion its energies are enhanced. So prepare to feel an INTENSE week of Plutonian energy with the mid-point (or eye of the storm) being September 11th. If you are spiritually conscious this may be a time of tremendous growth and power. It is also a time of power struggles, sexual intrigues, dark energy dominating. The Mercury squaring aspect of it adds to its ability to confound, manipulate, obfuscate and confuse with language or the mind. Alternately people’s minds may be teeming with breakdowns and breakthroughs. The loose opposition angle speaks to a tension and power struggle that was already brewing.

Mercury Retrograde This phenomenon–though greatly overblown in Western culture–plays into the mix because it is the early days of Mercury retrograde (it lasts three weeks and has just gone retro today). The first few days will tend to be the most chaotic for communications, technology and the mind in general. Perhaps this brain “scramble” is necessary so that the conscious mind does not fight the subconscious but rather accepts whatever personal and cultural revolution occurs.

Venus Opposition Jupiter This is probably the most pleasant and least jarring of the influences of the week. It signals a turn to optimism and “love consciousness.” On the flipside it can also indicate over-exuberance, decadence and laziness. But in general, if channeled correctly it is a very productive, positive time. Maybe all the breakdowns will lead to moments of clarity that will lead to positive renewal (my inner hippie hopes so).

The Mayan Tzolkin Calendar New Year Of the many calendars the Mayan civilization followed, the Tzolkin is their 9 month (no coincidence that that’s the duration of a pregnancy) “energy” year. After that period has ended a new “energy” year begins on the day 1 Imix (meaning alligator). That day will occur on the Western calendar date of 9-9-09. That last part probably doesn’t mean anything (though the nutcase bible code and conspiracy theorist followers will probably beat it to death), but it’s kind of cool. The day before the Mayan new year (tomorrow) is actually the highest energy day of the year. If there is a day to set intentions to be manifested in the coming year, that is it. The cosmic powers that be reign heavily at that time. Even if you don’t believe in this, trying tuning into the energy tomorrow and you’ll see that it’s super-intense.

That pretty much sums up the astrological week that will be. While I’m not deigning to predict events per se, I can say with complete certitude that, like the weather, these energetic shifts have an effect on people. With so much activity going on (and so much that has been brewing–have you been sensing it?), I will be surprised if we don’t see a few radical shifts, calls to action, discoveries, epiphanies and breakdowns in the coming week. Stay tuned!