The Eighth Day provides the public with the unique opportunity to experience an ecology of green glowing creatures and thus to critically reflect on the social and cultural implications of biotechnology. The Eighth Day brings together a biological robot (biobot) linked to the Internet, GFP fish, GFP mice, GFP amoeba and GFP plants, and video footage and sound of the ebb and flow of moving water. All transgenic creatures in The Eighth Day express the gene that produces green fluorescent protein (GFP).

In order to approach the transgenic ecology, the viewer "walks on water." Gentle, recurring sounds of waves emanate from four corners of the room. In the center of this tranquil environment, a fluorescent ecology of living creatures emerges. The living creatures and the biobot are enclosed in an environment under a ventilated, clear, plexiglas dome, thus rendering visible what it would be like if these creatures would in fact coexist in the world at large. As a self-contained artificial ecological system it critically resonates with the words in the title, which add one day to the period of creation of the world as narrated in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures.

By enabling local and online participants to experience the environment inside the dome from the point of view of the biobot, The Eighth Day creates a context in which participants can reflect on the meaning of a transgenic ecology from a first-person perspective.



Artist's Statement
The Eighth Day is a transgenic artwork that investigates the new ecology of fluorescent creatures that is evolving worldwide. I developed this work between 2000 and 2001 at the Institute for Studies in the Arts, Herberger College of Fine Arts, Arizona State University. While fluorescent creatures are being developed in isolation in laboratories, seen collectively they form the nucleus of a new and emerging synthetic bioluminescent system. The piece brings together living transgenic life forms and a biological robot (biobot) in an environment enclosed under a clear 4 foot diameter Plexiglas dome, thus making visible what it would be like if these creatures would in fact coexist in the world at large.

The Eighth Day presents an expansion of biodiversity beyond wildtype life forms. As a self-contained artificial ecological system it resonates with the words in the title, which add one day to the period of creation of the world as narrated in the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. All of the transgenic creatures in The Eighth Day are created through the cloning of a gene that codes for the production of green fluorescent protein (GFP). As a result, all creatures express the gene through bioluminescence visible with the naked eye. The transgenic creatures include GFP tobacco, dictyostelium, fish, and mice.

A biobot is a robot with an active biological element within its body which is responsible for aspects of its behavior. The biobot created for The Eighth Day has a colony of GFP amoeba called Dyctiostelium discoideum as its "brain cells". These "brain cells" form a network within a bioreactor that constitutes the "brain structure" of the biobot. When amoeba divide the biobot exhibits dynamic behavior inside the enclosed environment. Changes in the amoebal colony (the "brain cells") of the biobot are monitored by it, and cause it to slowly go up and down, or to move about, throughout the exhibition. Ascending and descending motion becomes a visual sign of increase (ascent) and decrease (descent) of amoebal activity. The biobot also functions as the avatar of Web participants inside the environment. Independent of the ascent and descent of the biobot, Web participants are able to control its visual system with a pan actuator. The autonomous ascent and descent motion provide Web participants with a new perspective of the environment.

The biobot has a biomorphic form and the "amoebal brain" is visible through the transparent bioreactor. In the gallery, visitors are able to see the terrarium with transgenic creatures from outside and inside the dome, as a computer in the gallery gives local visitors an exact sense of what the experience is like on the Internet. By enabling participants to experience the environment inside the dome from the point of view of the biobot, The Eighth Day creates a context in which participants can reflect on the meaning of a transgenic ecology from a first-person perspective.

Eduardo Kac

Biologists' Statement
In his book "The Eighth Day of Creation", Horace Freeland Judson begins with the following observation:

"Twice, especially since 1900, scientists and their ideas have generated a transformation so broad and deep that it touches everyone's most intimate sense of the nature of things. The first of these transformations was in physics, the second in biology."

The Eighth Day installation is designed to ask us to reflect on the many ways in which biological discoveries are transforming our sense of who we are as human beings and our relation to the natural world. People should be stimulated to think about the personal and societal implications of biological research.

The concept of Mr. Kac is to use a terrarium consisting solely of transgenic organisms as a metaphor for the dawning of a new world in which man has greater genetic control over his environment. The centerpiece of project is a terrarium containing mice, zebrafish, tobacco plants, and dictyostelium that have been genetically modified so they produce a green fluorescent protein (GFP). Under the appropriate lighting conditions, these organisms will "glow" green. Scientists have determined that expression of the GFP protein is not harmful to the animals. The purpose of the exhibit is to provide the public with access to transgenic organisms and to stimulate productive discussions on the role of transgenics in society. Transgenic technologies have already had a profound impact on society including advances in the fields of medicine, veterinary medicine, and food production.

At Arizona State University, transgenic animals are being used to examine fertility and reproduction, musculoskeletal development, host resistance to viral infections, immune responses, and the development of treatments for Parkinson's disease. These, and the recent initiatives in the area of nutriceuticals that make use of transgenic plants, are exciting examples of the potential benefits of this technology. We feel that artistic endeavors such as The Eighth Day project have the potential to reach a far broader audience than the scientific press. By communicating with a wider audience than those who already vocally support or oppose the development of transgenic animals, we hope to positively advance the debate on the use of transgenic technology in our society.

Alan Rawls and Jeanne Wilson-Rawls