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nato a venezia
Koen Vanmechelen
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nato a venezia Koen Vanmechelen
Open University of Diversity Curated by Peter Noever
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Nato a Venezia Open University of Diversity Collateral Event of the 54th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti Palazzo Loredan Venice, Italy
Artist Koen Vanmechelen Curator Peter Noever Organization Venice Projects Coordinators Francesca Giubilei Goele Schoofs Graphic design +Fortuna / Cheste Paola Fortuna / Peppe Clemente with Gloria Zanotti Photo Francesco Allegretto Stefano Ciol, Stoffel Hias Nadia Taiga Press Office ATemporaryStudio Samantha Punis Giovanna Felluga
With the collaboration of Prof. Olivier Hanotte (School of Biology, Centre of Genetics and Genomics, The University of Nottingham) Ignace Schops (Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen) Prof. Jean-Jacques Cassiman (Department of Human Genetics KULeuven) Prof. dr. Natalie Beenaerts (University of Hasselt) Prof. dr. Tom Artois (University of Hasselt) Prof. Piet Stinissen (University of Hasselt) Prof. Jean Manca (University of Hasselt) Prof. Bert Op’t Eijnde (University of Hasselt) Willem Ombelet (MD, PhD) Dr. Luc Vrielinck Ines Dewulf Alberto Fiorin
Supported by Berengo Studio 1989 Venice Projects University of Hasselt Absolute Art Gallery De Backer Gallery CC®P Culture Crew Nationaal Park Hoge Kempen With the patronage of MAK Museum of Applied arts / Contemporary art Regione Veneto Provincia di Venezia Comune di Venezia www.ccrp.be/nato-a-venezia
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the most serene chicken adriano berengo 12
get excited!
peter noever 18
pantheon veneto 25
the cosmopolitan chicken project 28
the cosmopolitan chicken project: diversity and dualism 36
the cosmopolitan chicken: «mechelse fayoumi, 15th generation» 52
open university of diversity 66
study a. the cosmopolitan chicken and the world ines dewulf 70
study b. genetic diversity, facial symmetry and sexual attractiveness under supervision of prof. dr. piet stinissen and prof. dr. jean manca 74
study c. the difference between two flatworm populations: a comparative faunistical study. is it all about sex? prof. dr. tom artois prof. dr. natalie beenaerts
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the most serene chicken adriano berengo
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The magnificence of the Most Serene Republic of Venice, or La Serenissima, attracted people from the most diverse places but especially from the East. Their presence enriched the city not only economically but culturally as well. Here, earlier than in other places, it was understood that immigration was crucial to ensuring the city’s growth. La Serenissima based its wealth on a flourishing commerce, one that brought together more than 100,000 inhabitants of various ethnic groups and unified them despite their differences. Between the XV and XVI centuries, the time of its greatest splendor, Venice was a cosmopolitan city. Greeks, Turks, Arabs, and Germans brought to Venice new ideas and techniques that they managed to merge fully. Of course at that time there was no talk of multiculturalism or integration, but history shows how these people managed to gradually become part of Venetian society. Specific regulations for foreigners safeguarded the continuity of their origins and cultures. The trump card in Venice’s expansion was this multiculturalism. The foreigners have left valuable imprints that Venice still retains in such evocative
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place names as the “Fondaco dei Turchi” (Turks’ Inn), the “Fondaco dei Tedeschi” (Germans’ Inn), the Jewish Ghetto, the island of “San Lazzaro degli Armeni” (Saint Lazarus of the Armenians) and in the many “campi, calli” and courts bearing Greek names. Then there is the host of Venetian surnames – like Turco, Del Turco, Turcato, Moro, Morello – that also recall these Eastern and Middle Eastern origins. Lastly, there is the Venetian dialect itself that still today retains words that came from the East. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project is a scientific and artistic project of racial and cultural hybridization created twenty years ago by Koen Vanmechelen. His project found fertile soil, an ideal incubator in Venice and specifically on the island of Murano, where our collaboration first began. Over the years, both here on Murano and in other international glassworks, he has created various art projects using glass as a material for cultural hybridization and exchange. For all these reasons, Koen Vanmechelen’s exhibition nato a Venezia / Open University of Diversity, a collateral event of the 54th Venice Biennale represents not only a step in his quest for artistic expression, coming of age with this project, but an important moment for this city, its permanent residents and visitors to reflect on Venice’s future as a symbol of culture, solidarity and hospitality.
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get excited! peter noever
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Andrea Palladio (1508 - 1580), Marco Polo (1254 - 1324), Paolo Veronese (1528 - 1588), Antonio Canova (1757 1822), Dante Alighieri (1265 - 1321), or Daniele Manin (1804 - 1857), and many other – fifty in total – outstanding representatives of the arts, politics, and science are assembled here in the entrance hall of the proud thirteenth century Palazzo Loredan. As history has irrevocably proven, all of these men (and there are only men) perpetuated in stone in this Pantheon of Science are true ambassadors of the spiritual life of Venice and the Veneto. It is impossible to elude the view of the stone busts resting side by side on their marble pedestals. Each of them is the embodiment of the fame and prestige of the unique lagoon city. Everything is as expected, every bust has its place, and with the help of these worthy portrayals the visitor can playfully immerse herself into the eventful history of this city, home of Veronese, Tiziano, or Tintoretto, and also of Nono, Scarpa, or Vedova. But right here and now the visitor will discover a strange creature among the history laden busts, a projection of the future, cast in marble. It carries
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the name Mechelse Fayoumi and shall be born in Venice on the occasion of the 54th International Art Biennale. Accordingly, the inscription “The Cosmopolitan Chicken ‘Mechelese Fayoumi’, 15th Generation. Crossbreeding between Mechelese Silky (CCP) X Fayoumi (Egypt)” is chiseled into the stone pedestal. “Nato a Venezia” (Born in Venice) is the name of the installation of the exceptional artist Koen Vanmechelen. A discrete, yet clearly articulated artistic intervention has been our common goal from the very beginning, the site of action, Venice and the Palazzo Loredan with its history and its scientific focus, being our particular challenge. Taking this into account while at the same time accentuating the artistic position of Koen Vanmechelen on the verge of science is the central concern of this project, which is exceptional in every respect. Central to “Nato a Venezia” is the open university of diversity, an open study center for the exploration of biological and cultural diversity. In a biological and intellectual breeding center, including an incubator
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where the active breeding of the Biennale Chicken, the 15th generation of the Cosmopolitan Chicken crossbreeding project – Mechelse Fayoumi – takes place, live research on cultural and biological diversity will be made accessible to the visitor for the entire period of the 54th Venice Biennale. Topping the intervention off by a live-stream “reality show” of the parent chickens of the Biennale Chicken, Koen Vanmechelen has turned the Palazzo Loredan into an art laboratory, into a contemporary manifestation on the borderline of art and science. For the duration of the Venetian Art Show the old, dignified library on Campo S. Stefano is filled again with life. The interdisciplinary project “Open University of Diversity” adds a momentum to the historic site that is committed to this space dedicated to science and research while conveying the utopia of man's unison with nature in the broadest sense and creating a new approach to art. The starting point of this artistic intervention is a happy event: Nato a Venezia.
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pantheon veneto The Pantheon Loredan Veneto is a historical collection of busts and marble medallions representing people prominent in politics, weapons, navigation, in the sciences, literature and the arts. People who were born or lived in the province of Venice since the Venetian old until the eighteenth century. With the bust of the Venice Biennale Chicken, Koen Vanmechelen adds the first non-human and modern figure to the collection.
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Antonio Canova (1757-1822) Venetian sculptor who became famous for his marble sculptures that delicately rendered nude flesh. The epitome of the neoclassical style. Paolo Sarpi (1552-1623) Historian and theologian, defended the prerogatives of the Venetian Republic. Angelo Participazio (?-827) 10th Doge of Venice. He was one of the earliest settlers of the island of Rialto. Melchiorre Cesarotti (1730-1808) Italian poet and translator from Padua. Best known as the translator of Homer and Ossian. Giovanni I Cornaro (1551-1629) Ninety-sixth Doge of Venice Vettor Pisani (1324-1380) As the Captain General of the Venetian fleet he fought against the Genovese. Andrea Contarini (1300/1302-1382) 60th Doge of Venice, defeated the Genovese in the war of Chioggia.
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Giambattista Galliccioli (1738-1806) Priest and orientalist. Published a book on ‘Ancient Venetian Memoirs.’ Giovanni I Cornaro (1551 - 1629) 96th Doge of Venice. Lazarro Moro (1687-1764) Geologist, studied the origin of chains mountain ranges. Marin Faliero (1285-1355) 55th Doge of Venice. He was dismissed, executed and sentenced for high treason. Marco Foscarini (1695-1763) Venetian statesman who served as the 117th Doge of Venice. Enrico Dandolo (1107-1205) 41st Doge of Venice. At command the Fourth Crusade managed to recapture Zara, then take Constantinople. Paolo Renier (1710-1789) 119th and penultimate Doge of Venice. Andrea Gritti (1454-1538) Doge of Venice from 1523 to 1538, following a distinguished diplomatic and military career.
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Aldus Manutius (1449-1515) Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press. Ugo Foscolo (1778-1827) Italian writer, revolutionary and poet. Died in London. Apostolo Zeno (1668-1750) Venetian poet, librettist, journalist, and man of letters. Caterina Cornaro (1454-1510) Patrician Venetian and Queen of Cyprus from 1474 to 1489. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) Major Italian poet of the Middle Ages. His ‘Divine Comedy’ is considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. Giustina Renier Michiel (1755-1832) Noblewoman, who held one of the most vigorous literary salons in Venice. Vincenzo Scamozzi (1552-1616) Venetian architect and a writer on architecture, active mainly in Vicenza and Republic of Venice area.
Niccolò Tommaseo (1802-1874) Italian Dalmatian linguist, journalist and essayist, the editor of a ‘Dizionario della Lingua Italiana’. Carlo Gozzi (1720-1806) Playwright and writer. A number of twentieth-century stage works were inspired by his plays. Paolo Veronese (1528-1588) Renaissance painter. Veronese, Titian, and Tintoretto constitute the triumvirate of pre-eminent Venetian painters of the late Renaissance. Titian/Tiziano Vecellio (1574-1576) Most important painter of the 16th-century Venetian school. His painting methods exercised a profound influence on Western art. Andrea Palladio (1508-1580) Italian Renaissance architect active in the Republic of Venice. Most influential individual in the history of Western architecture. Carlo Alberto of Savoy (1798-1849) King of Piedmont-Sardinia from 1831 to 1849. Abdicated after his
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forces were defeated by the Austrian army at the Battle of Novara (1849). Giovanni Bellini (c. 1433-1516) Renaissance painter, is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Mechelse Fayoumi (2011-?) Fifteenth species in The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, an artistic crossbreeding of national chicken species by Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen. Born in Venice, is also called Biennale Chicken. Giambattista Tiepolo (1693-1770) Painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice. Is considered the last ‘Olympian’ painter of the Venetian Republic. Jacopo Tintoretto/Comin (1512 - 1594) Painter and a notable exponent of the Venetian Renaissance school. Termed Il Furioso. Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) Venetian composer, writer, advocate, magistrate, and teacher.
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Sebastiano Caboto (1476-1557) Navigator and explorer who worked for the Spanish. Continued his father's attempts to find a passage Northwest of the Atlantic. Giambattista Spolverini (1697-1764) Didactic poet. His epic poem ‘La coltivazione del riso’ (The cultivation of Rice) runs over two hundred pages and four books. Marco Polo (1254-1324) Merchant whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. Paolo Erizzo (1411-1470) Governor and heroic defender of Venice in Negroponte (Euboea). Was defeated by the Turks. Angelo Emo (1731-1792) The last Grand Admiral of the Republic of Venice. He led raids on Moorish targets along the Barbary Coast. Giovanni Caboto (c.1450-1498) Italian navigator and explorer. First European voyager to travel
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to the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings. Brandolino Brandolini (1611-1652) Leader of a band of mercenaries for the Republic of Venice in Flanders, Italy, Crete and in the Adriatic. Lazzaro Mocenigo (1623-1657) Venetian admiral who blocked fought the Turks several times at the Dardanelles. Angelo Minich (1817-1893) Venetian pathologist, specialised in Vienna and worked in Germany, Belgium and England. Bernardino Zendrini (1679-1747) Mathematician, physician, astronomer. One of the most celebrated Italian hydraulic engineers of the 18th century. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) Physicist, mathematician, astronomer and philosopher who played a major role in the scientific revolution. Paolo Paruta (1540-1598) Historian and political writer. Opened in Venice private
Academy of Sciences. Became official historian to the republic. Cassandra Fedele (1465-1558) Most renowned woman scholar in Italy during the last decades of the Quattrocento. Her marriage at age 34 ended her promising career. Francesco Pajola (1741-1816) Physician and surgeon. He was a specialist in urological operations. Nicolò Zeno (1334-1395) Explored the regions of the North Atlantic and seas of the Arctic. Carlo Zeno (1334-1418) Italian admiral from Venice, who is considered a hero of the War of Chioggia. Enrico Dandolo (1107-1205) The 41st Doge of Venice. Remembered for infamous role in the Fourth Crusade which he redirected against the Byzantine Empire. Jacopo Morelli (1745-1819) Abbot, historian and critic, librarian of Marciana.
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Sebastiano Venier (1496-1578) 86th Doge of Venice, and commander of the Venetian contingent at Battle of Lepanto. Luigi Carrer (1801-1850) Venetian poet, writer and critic who gained early notoriety as an improviser of verse tragedies. Pietro Orseolo II (960-1008) 26th Doge of Venice. He began the period of eastern expansion of Venice that lasted for the better part of 500 years. Pietro Bembo (1470-1547) Scholar, poet, literary theorist, and cardinal. An influential figure in the development of the Italian language. Giovanni Arduini (1714-1795) Italian geologist who is known as the ‘Father of Italian Geology’. Gasparo Gozzi (1713-1786) Italian critic and dramatist. Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793) Italian playwright and librettist. His works include some of Italy's most famous and best-loved plays
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Daniele Manin (1804-1857) Italian patriot and statesman from Venice. He is regarded as one of the heroes of Italian unification Fra Mauro Camaldolese (15th century) Venetian monk who made the famous Fra Mauro map. Tito Livio (59 BC.-17 AD.) Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Vettor Pisani (1324-1380) A Venetian admiral. Francesco Morosimi (1619-1694) Doge of Venice from 1688 to 1694, at the height of the Great Turkish War.
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the cosmopolitan chicken project
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CCP the cosmopolitan chicken project: diversity and dualism
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Nothing is what it seems. That is but one of many much more surprising - lessons of the “Cosmopolitan Chicken Project” (CCP), a worldwide cross-breeding program involving national and regional chicken breeds started in 1998 by visual artist Koen Vanmechelen (b. 1965, Sint-Truiden, Belgium). Vanmechelen finds that each successive generation of hybrids is more resilient than its purer-bred parents. The chickens live longer, are less susceptible to disease, and exhibit less aggressive behavior. Also, less unexpectedly, the morphological and phenotypical characteristics become blurred by selective breeding. The ultimate result of many generations of crossbreeding is a truly Cosmopolitan Chicken, carrying the genes of all the world's chicken breeds. The starting point for all these different breeds once was the Red Jungle Fowl - the original chicken. Its many descendant breeds are all man-made end-points, sometimes literally so, in the sense that they are infertile. Vanmechelen wants to end all these breeds by blending them back into a new starting point, providing a chickenbreeding example of the principle of creative destruction. But the CCP does not aim to reconstitute the proto-chicken. It does not want to return to the past. On the contrary, it symbolises the future. The CCP is the starting point of a new form of evolution that will
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never end, a perpetuum mobile of genetic diversification and recombination. Vanmechelen's oeuvre is as diverse and as hybrid as the Cosmopolitan Chicken itself: it's a unique mix of painting, drawing, photography, video, installations and wooden sculptures, whose unifying theme is the chicken and the egg. But, as mentioned before: nothing is what it seems. The core of the project is neither chicken nor egg, but cross-breeding and the diversity that comes from it. The Cosmopolitan Chicken holds up a mirror to us. Cross-breeding is a practical but also a philosophical necessity, if not a moral duty. Today’s chicken breeds are failing; to prevent in-breeding and degeneration, new blood is needed. “Every organism needs some other organism in order to survive,” says Vanmechelen, “If there is one secret in life, maybe it’s that everything is dual. Chicken and egg, cause and effect, good and bad, construction and destruction: everything exists in relation to the Other. If you pursue this line of reasoning, you might even conclude that there’s a parallel solar system outside our own, ensuring our continued survival.” “I see the chicken as a metaphor for man and the egg both as a metaphor for the world and as the laboratory of the future. The egg is a protected environment
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and a source of life. Yet it is also a cage, a restriction from which we have to break free.” History teaches us that progress is predicated on daring to let go of what we already have. The result of hybridisation is often uncertain. Do we dare expose ourselves to the unexpected? Vanmechelen certainly does: “Fertilisation, enrichment – they always come from outside. It’s precisely the unexpected things that are important to me. I take notice of apparent coincidences.” This is why the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project is also an answer in progress, a work of art that will never be complete. How the Cosmopolitan Chicken will turn out or where the program will end remain open questions, just as what will come out of the egg is an open question, every time around. The diversity that characterises Vanmechelen’s work is not confined to the media he uses. The CCP involves a symbiosis of art, science, philosophy, politics and
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ethics. It is Vanmechelen’s way of reflecting on the existential questions of individual identity and life, and it touches on contemporary issues regarding globalisation, racism, genetic modification and cloning. The project invites the onlooker to join in the debate. The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project: approach and state of progress “The first-generation hybrid, the Mechelse Bresse, resulted from cross-breeding the Belgian Mechelse Koekoek, the pride of Flemish chicken farmers, with the top French chicken, the Poulet de Bresse. Each successive generation of hybrids comes from crossbreeding the previous generation’s hybrid with another pure breed. Now, during the 54th Venice Biennale, the Mechelse Silky, which was presented last year at the Shanghai World Expo, and the Fayoumi, an ancient Egyptian breed, will bring forth the 15th generation; the Mechelse Fayoumi, a biennial chicken born in Venice.”
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MECHELSE KOEKOEK BELGIUM
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POULET DE BRESSE FRANCE
ENGLISH REDCAP ENGLAND
MECHELSE BRESSE CCP
DRESDNER GERMANY MECHELSE GIANT CCP
UILEBAARD THE NETHERLANDS
MECHELSE DRESDNER CCP
MECHELSE LOUISIANA CCP
THAILAND MECHELSE AURACANA CCP
DENIZLI HOROZU TURKEY
ANCONA ITALY
CHINA HINA
the cosmopolitan chicken project (CCP) 1999 - 2011
MECHELSE CUBALAYA CCP
MECHELSE ОРЛОВСКОЙ CCP
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MECHELSE REDCAP CCP
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JERSEY GIANT USA
MECHELSE UILEBAARD CCP
LOUISIANA MEXICO
MECHELSE
AURACANA BRAZIL
CCP
MECHELSE DENIZLI CCP
MECHELSE ANCONA CCP
CUBALAYA CUBA
ОРЛОВСКОЙ RUSSIA
MECHELSE
CCP
EGYPT
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CCP the cosmopolitan chicken: «mechelse fayoumi, 15th generation»
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Significant historical events often start with a theft. As Roman civilisation started with the abduction of the Sabine women, so did the birth of the invulnerable Venetian city-state begin with the theft of the holy relics of Saint Marc the Evangelist, founder of the church of Alexandria. They were stolen from this Egyptian city by two Venetian merchants and taken to Venice. Marc became the patron of the Venetians. This ancient story is a perfect scaffold for artist Koen Vanmechelen to launch his next and fifteenth crossing in his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, the Mechelse Fayoumi in Venice, at the 54th Biennale. The Mechelse Fayoumi is the child of the Mechelse Silky and the Egyptian Fayoumi or Bigawi, a very old and rare breed that in ancient times belonged to the Bisharin Tribe of the Beja people. This ethnic group has been living in the northeast of Africa, along the Nile River in the Fayum region. A rich agricultural area, called the garden of Egypt. With the introduction of the Mechelse Fayoumi in the City of Bridges, Koen Vanmechelen reinjects a powerful African symbol into the city, more than a millennium after the relics of Marc arrived there. Thus re-establishing the forgotten navel between the two ancient Mediterranean hotspots of diversity and knowledge. Two old ‘Megapoleis’ where Jewish, Christian, Greek, Latin and Islamic cultures confronted and enriched each other. But also decimated each other, without
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being able however to change the ancient DNA of the city. Sometimes it takes centuries for that DNA to be rediscovered. As it happened with one of the eldest symbols of intercultural exchange in northern Africa, the Fayum mummy portraits. These are realistically painted portraits on wooden boards attached to mummies from the Coptic period. They are one of the most highly regarded forms of art in the Classical world and the only large body of art from that tradition to have survived. They were discovered in the late 19th century. In a country where the first incubators were made: the pyramid and its urns, preserving the splendour of an ancient civilisation for later generations. In Venice, Koen Vanmechelen combines all these elements and transforms them in his own iconographical way to construct an installation that honours the past and future efforts at biocultural diversification. In the library, the transparent incubator will bring forth the biennial chicken, a Mechelse Fayoumi. Meanwhile the DNA from the previous generations is being safely kept in the basement behind the marble busts where a forecast of the next generation of the Cosmopolitan Chicken is added to more than a millennium of history. In presenting the Mechelse Fayoumi in this way, Vanmechelen changes the narrative of Venetian history and draws the attention to the people honoured in the collection. As a reflection on the future and the past.
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CCP open university of diversity
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By launching the Open University of Diversity (OpUnDi) in the library of Palazzo Loredan, the historic seat of the Institute of Sciences, Letters and Arts, Koen Vanmechelen takes the next step in bringing art and science together. With the Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (CCP), some years ago, the artist found a metaphor that allows him to reflect on such important issues as diversity, globalisation, racism, interculturality, genetic modification and cloning. At the same time, the project invites the onlooker to join in on the debate. By creating OpUnDi, Koen Vanmechelen now sets up an easy accessible public forum, inviting other experts to discuss these contemporary issues. Set up as a think tank of experts from different domains, OpUnDi functions as a global network of innovative thinkers that is continuously on the move, incubating debate and discussion all around the world, via expert meetings, symposia and conferences. The idea behind this University is the awareness that our world is rapidly changing and increasingly becoming more complex and problematic. As Ban Kimoon, Secretary-General of the United Nations noted, there is a high sense of urgency to seek solutions for our global challenges. However, the way in which our society deals with these issues is strikingly - not to say shockingly - fragmented. Every issue, problem and
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theme is scrutinised in separate sectors, disciplines and forums, leaving us blind to the opportunities provided by other points of view. This is why OpUnDi aims at integration, exchange and cross-fertilisation of the debate. By bringing together people from different backgrounds and disciplines, from different populations and with different viewpoints, an exchange and ‘insemination’ of ideas is stimulated. These ideas in their turn may create new understandings and enhance the search for solutions to our global problems. During the Venice Biennale, OpUnDi will be officially launched with an “open study on cultural and biological diversity.” Open, since it invites the visitors to participate actively in the study and at the same time granting them access to the data obtained; but the study is also ‘open’ because it does not end here. The results will be archived in a virtual library that can travel all around the world. The topic of “cultural and biological diversity” stems directly from the CCP, but is also self-evident: human development is always affected by biology, cultures and societies. Cultural diversity and genetic diversity therefore coexist in the human species. In Venice, three different investigations focusing on these themes will be conducted in parallel and will be accessible by the public in real time.
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Firstly, for six months, the art historian Ines Dewulf will carry out a study (study A) with the CCP as starting point, aimed at investigating the possible social conclusions that can be drawn from this cross-breeding project. Study B is a scientific study which aims at investigating general attractiveness, measured via facial symmetry, linking genetic to biological diversity. This research is supervised by Dr. Prof Piet Stinissen (Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hasselt). Finally, biologist Tom Artois will conduct a biological study (study C) comparing the diversity in the flatworm population in Venice with that from Hoge Kempen National Park in Belgium to identify salient differences. “Because man made chickens successful through diversity, he can learn from them.” (Koen Vanmechelen)
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study a. the cosmopolitan chicken and the world ines dewulf
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Koen Vanmechelen’s installation ‘Nato a Venezia’ is no artistic gem locked away in the beautiful Palazzo Loredan. Belgian art historian Ines Dewulf will be linking it for six months to the rest of the planet. For the past year Belgian art historian Ines Dewulf (University of Ghent) has been researching the philosophical parallels between cultural anthropologist Rik Pinxten and conceptual artist Koen Vanmechelen. Her aim, during the Venice Biennale, is trying to draw in other people to this installation and Koen Vanmechelen’s Cosmopolitan Chicken Project (CCP). Dewulf will try to prove that art can be more than a short but pleasing or momentarily thought provoking moment. Art can have social consequence. To investigate this, Dewulf will be permanently manning a computer terminal in the incubator room of the installation in the Palazzo Loredan and conduct an anthropological study with the CCP as starting point, aimed at investigating the possible social conclusions that can be drawn out of this worldwide cross-breeding project. Dewulf: ‘I will link the project to other people, institutions and organisations, draw in researchers, thinkers, and people from other domains. Further I will engage myself with the visitor of ‘Nato a Venezia’ and in that way ‘go behind the chicken’. My basic question, “How can you socially apply the philosophy behind the
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Cosmopolitan Chicken Project”, must find an answer before the end of the Biennale in November. I am very curious to find the reason behind the appeal of the Cosmopolitan Chicken. Or the aversion for it. Just like Warhol’s ‘Brillo Box’ in the 20th century, Vanmechelen’s chicken will get strong reactions: it captures or unsettles you. Dewulf got fascinated by Koen Vanmechelen’s work after she compared his philosophical preoccupations with those of anthropologist Rik Pinxten. ‘Both are humanists who work in an intuitive and engaged way. Both have bridged the gap between science and art, two powerful forms of human invention and creativity that add a dimension to the determinacy of nature. I got fascinated by the way in which Vanmechelen’s intuitive approach of his Cosmopolitan Chicken Project
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reflected the approach by professor Pinxten,’ says Dewulf. ‘In an almost uncanny way.’ ‘Koen Vanmechelen belongs to a new group of artists who engage themselves in their era and their world in a very strong and uncompromising way. In his book ‘Art as experience' John Dewey says that art can break down the wall between cultures. The Vanmechelen chicken can do that more than anything in the world. Almost all 7.000 remaining cultures have chickens, while the animal is the universal language and aesthetics of the artist. He is using an ageold tool to open up cultures to other cultures. To use the words of ethno-aesthetician Richard Anderson in his Calliope Sisters: Vanmechelen’s art is culturally significant, competently coded in an affective, tittilating medium.’
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study b. genetic diversity, facial symmetry and sexual attractiveness under supervision of prof. dr. piet stinissen and prof. dr. jean manca
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As a partner in the open study during the biennale in Venice, Hasselt University (UHasselt) focuses on analyzing one aspect of cultural and biological diversity. Scientific research has multiple purposes, one of which is to provide solutions for the many challenges facing humanity at present and in the future. By both posing crucial questions and providing useful answers, this study aims to do precisely that. Since this type of scientific study can provide data for research programs aimed at solving humanity's present and future challenges. This study will be carried out at the Venice Biennale, where Hasselt University will perform a study regarding biological diversity. The research is set up in cooperation with the Faculties of Medicine and Sciences, under the aegis of their respective deans, Prof. Dr. Piet Stinissen and Prof. Dr. Jean Manca. UHasselt students will conduct a research project in the library of the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti. Here, visitors will be invited to volunteer in the project, which aims to link diversity in phenotypical diversity (i.e. appearance/attractiveness) with genetic diversity. Genetic diversity can be defined as the variety of genes within a species. As such, it encompasses all the genetically determined differences occurring between individuals of a species in the expression of a particu-
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lar trait or set of traits. This genetic variation, as has been well documented, is a safeguard for the longterm survival of a species, by playing a critical role in a population's ability to respond to environmental changes. In the course of this study, genetic diversity will be determined by a query, while phenotypical diversity will be established by measuring facial symmetry. This is the variation, from one half to the other, within the facial configuration, using the mid-sagittal plane as a base line. Increasing evidence links facial symmetry both to the genetic diversity of the parents, and to increased attractiveness. When data collection in Venice is complete, the facial photos will be analysed
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by determining (a)symmetrical points (attractiveness) of the face which in turn will be linked to the genetic diversity. The results of this study will later be presented at the World Creativity Forum 2011, where they may provide a starting point for various discussions. If, for example, the hypothesis linking genetic diversity, facial symmetry and perceived attractiveness is established, what does this mean? Why exactly is symmetry more attractive? What is the evolutionary rationale behind this? And what is the seemingly paradoxical link between (facial) symmetry and (genetic) diversity? Go to www.ccrp.be/symmetry/ to measure your facial symmetry.
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study c. the difference between two flatworm populations: a comparative faunistical study. is it all about sex? prof. dr. tom artois prof dr. natalie beenaerts
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The third and final study focuses on biodiversity and more exactly on the biodiversity of the flatworm population. In fact, Tom Artois and his team of scientists, doctors and students from Hasselt University, set up a comparative faunistical study between the flatworm population in Venice (Italy) and the population in National Park Hoge Kempen (Belgium). Their objective is to map out the biological and genetic diversity in these populations, identifying salient differences and similarities but above all they expect to identify new species of flatworms. As a matter of fact, while most people associate the discovery of new animal species with large-scale expeditions to far off places, a vast amount of biodiversity that is right under our feet remains to be discovered. One such group of overlooked animals are flatworms. Since they are small and difficult to study, their biodiversity is not very well known. Nevertheless, as they are hermaphroditic, sexual selection has produced a bewildering array of species, all differing in the shape and form of their genitals. Tor Karling, a famous flatworm taxonomist, once said: “any shape you could imagine, would eventually be found in the reproductive structure of a flatworm.” For this comparative study, we have chosen two regions with a very high human population density and
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a long-standing tradition in taxonomy namely Venice, Italy and National Park Hoge Kempen (Flanders, Belgium). Still we expect that for both regions, the diversity of flatworms has hardly been studied. This hidden biodiversity is, during the study, made visible to the visitor by displaying a collage of pictures of all flatworm species that we find on the beaches and in the canals of Venice and the pools and ponds of the National Park “Hoge Kempen”. We will hopefully discover that there are many more species present than previously thought, and that most are probably unknown to science. These species will later need a formal description and will thus be included in the ongoing research at Hasselt University.
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Additional to the morphology, we will also use information stored in DNA of the collected specimens to study their diversity. Comparing particular DNA fragments is a promising way to identify species, especially when they are difficult to recognize with traditional methods. Combining all this information will give us a much more detailed picture of the species present at a certain location. We examine the flatworm population in an attempt to uncover unidentified species and the genetic and biological differences between two flatworm populations. Once we identify these differences we can go beyond the flatworms and ask questions such as: “what makes animals, and people for that matter, different? What does our DNA tell us? …”
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Printed in Venice June 2011
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