DIYSECT

The first episode of the DIYSECT web-series, 'Learning in Public' introduces several members of the do-it-yourself biology movement (Norfolk's Biologik, Victoria's Biospace, and Sunnyvale's Biocurious), as well as tactical performance artists Steve Kurtz (Critical Art Ensemble), Claire Pentecost, and subRosa (Faith Wilding and Hyla Willis). What these groups have in common is idea of public amateurism: hacking hardware, ideas, and life, and revealing that process in the public sphere. These practices reinforce the idea that you don't have to be classically trained to engage with biology, and show that having access to the tools of biotechnology empowers the everyday citizen with technical knowledge as well as social-political insight into the world we live in.