11 Biohacker LABS we love
and a new terminoly > ‘’the Gambiologists’’ and other autonomous / temporary niches of resistance
What is a Gambiologist?
Gambiologia Coming from Gambiarra: is the Brazilian practise of makeshifts, the art of resorting to quirky and smart improvisation in order to repair what doesn’t work or to create what you need with what you have at your disposal. Gambiologia is the ‘science’ that studies this form of creative DIY improvisation and celebrates it by combining it with electronic-bio/digital practises.
We want more international and independant guildes of biohackers (especialy online skills co-op)
As a poetic and perhaps politic statement we are soon going to communicate on a more transparent and encrypted social network made by independant hackers that we TRUST. The plateform is call MAMOT.fr (it’s french yeah @laquadraturedunet we love to colonize new spaces) We have no idea where we are going with it, but at least we would design our own ethical filters to curate appropriate practices within biohacking societies.
The plateform is call mamot.fr click bellow to have a preview (learn by yourself how it works) and come add your brick to this new global social construction, create your hashtags, build independent networks and brainstorm with us…
YES we LOVE to PLAY many people see in playfulness a form of entertainment or fun, but we see it as a way to engage with the outside world in transdisciplinarian ways, testing the boundaries and experimenting with new possibilities, new forks, new wikis, new encyclopedias, new OS systems etc...etc…
In our explorations we love to PLAY with:
- Citizen scientists < Futur journalists / big-bio-datas
- Workshopologists < Da Vincis & co / Tinkerers passing the knowledge
- Gambiologist < DIY BIOlogist / Masters of alchemy and Wizarderies
- Bio Punks < Bioart that society needs / immune systems / pirates etc…
- Hackers < understands networks and complex systems
- Social Scientists < Community builders / psychosocialy skilled
- Techno Shamans / Musicians< The ones bridging science and music
11 labs we love
1/
@NewYorkBotanics / NYC, USA
A very playfull lab, Sebastian Cocioba works on plant engineering and photosynthesis (making plants glow in the dark and stuff…). He also works with the local biohackerspaces in Brooklyn and a visual art school teaching plant engineering. lately he just sequenced the all genome of a plant. The futur starts right fucking here, in your parent bedroom.
2/
@Gypsylab8 / Sao Paulo, Brazil
We love this lab, very agile and transdisciplinarian, GuimaSan is tinkering with all sort of stuff from bio to electro sensors. We first discussed about #Gambiologia philosophy wich is an approach deeper embedded into DIY and improvisation in Brazil. His activities involves citizen science, bio materials, sensors, seed banks, co-operative skill sharing, agriculture etc…
3/
Hackerfarm.jp / Freaklabs.org / / Chiba, Japan
In between shrines and chanting rivers Akiba use a small garage to create his lab . Above working on safecast he now tinkers with drones and used them as data mules to gather informations coming out from the rice fields in witch humidity sensors are being installed. The all village is now interested about this new engineered techniques and thus created a vibrant community of farm hackers and local peasants.
4/
hackteria.org / / Zurich, Lausanne
Special shout out to our favorite techno shaman Marc Dusseiller from Hackteria traveling the world with his own lab equipment to teach critical design and inspiring jugaad workshops. the word biohacking didn’t even exist they were allready doing it.
He came up with the J’AIME concept aka Jaringan of Appropriate and Interdisciplinary Maker Education. Always a playsure to talk with such brillant critical thinker.
5/
Lee Rocher / / Ghetto scientist / Paris
He plays with an algue call Euglena with his handmade Bioreactor, with it he can cultivate living organisms such as Yeasts, Bacterias, micro mushrooms, algaes, etc.. His lab is inside a refurbished library landed to him by a social organisation run by the city mayor of paris.
6/
@BackyardBrains / / Santiago, Chile
Timothy has a lab in Santiago de Chile since 5 years, dedicated to microscopia, wired cockroaches and the study of brains. His atelier is a private one and is of course the perfect environment for the little Da Vincis like minds. Lately we builded a ‘’roach scope’’ wich is an entirely laser cutted microscope. Also check @phineasgreg the co-founder of Backyard Brain.
7/
interspecifics.cc / / Mexico Ciudade
Intersection between art and science. they embrace hybridized practices among different disciplines and living organisms, open knowledge and precarity as a challenge. Their current lines of research are based in the use of sound to understand the bioelectrical activity of different bacterial consortiums, plants, slime molds and humans using DIY and custom-made sets of hardware and synths.
8/
the-odin.com / Silicon Valley, California
@4LOVofScience > Punk and excellent communicator Josiah co founded the rather small company call ‘’the-Odin’’ For him the future is going to be dominated by genetic engineering and consumer genetic design will be a big part of that. He is making it happen by creating kits and tools that allow anyone to make unique and usable organisms at home or in a lab or anywhere…Josiah also plays with gut bacteria
9/
github.com/pirateship / / Boston, Massachuset
Jeff Warren @unterbahn co-founder of Public lab and notorious activist within the field of environmental studies, he builds all sorts of stuff but is specialized into photo spectrometry and old Rhodes piano synths. his lab is made of prototypes of all kinds — mostly made of founded objects and reused cardboards — and he shares almost everything on his public lab account and other free softwares programs
10/
@echopen.org / Paris, France
From sound to ultrasound, a group of medical doctors and engineers squatting the oldest hospital in Paris on the Island ‘’La Cité’’. They work on making a mobil and open echograph from scratch. These days Shu Lea Chean artist in residency is collaborating with echopen to produce some audio visual feedbacks with the inherent datas that will come out from it the open echograph tool.
11/
Mary Maggic & Biron Rich / Open Oestrogen / Nomad lab
Mary makes freak science, workshops with the public, and exhibits with urine. Byron is the second person working on it both into academia but showing their work anywhere in the world. Reflecting about how the industrial world is messing around with our bodies and hormones. This nomad project exists between the categorized fields of bio-art, bio-hacking, art-science, citizen-science.
OTHER COLLABORATORIES - similar spirit :
12/
Hackerloop 🐒 / / Paris, France
Passionate parisians trouble makers making crazy stuff but they are actualy very knowledgeable and gather a bunch of different skills in one place and different types of wine…they work for video games / corporate companies but also as developers and creative freelancers.
13/
The bassement lab / Detroit, Michigan (Musical)
when talking about independant labs we cannot forget the bassement music scene. Here in Detroit with underground house legend Ray Bones creating music and digging into a huge record collection full of enchanted stories. Because dancing is important for creative thinking and because it’s in your bassement we aknowledge this lab as a science lab.
14/
boxouse.com / / Oakland, California (Entrepreneurial)
Huge warehouse where we prototype tiny houses made out of container. We wire all the box and make them liveable and affordable especially when the cost of living in the bay area has rise to the highest levels. The warehouse is private but you can come and prototype your own contener if you want, all the industrial tools are available and a strong engineer team behind.
15/
ladeviation.org / Marseille, France (Artisanal)
La Deviation is a Funky Street Art / Circus / Artist / Designer / Architect / community with all sorts of tools and all sorts of residents with divers skills, but one project gather the community around permaculture technics. Bonus: The goats and chicken running around the area is just as fun as the performers juggling. Shout out to all our ‘’Saltimbanque’’
16/
Maker truck / Vancouver (Social)
Learning on the road, what a perfect story that is. Riding the maker truck is like an adventure in itself, easy to join and to exchange knowledge on the go. Bringing tools to the ghettos of Vancouver where curious kids would come and have a look at the mobil lab and be able to repair their broken electronics or build a TVbGone
