Dan Oki. Gene Pool

Published in English and Croatian on the occasion of a solo-exhibition of Dan Oki's work in Galerije Umjetnina in Split, Croatia in 2000 (based on original text "Environment of Chimera's"): media-installations (consisting of video/computer, slides, virtual sculpture, photography and sound) of virtual hybrid animals.

Dan Oki. Gene Pool

(Croatian below)

The chimera, a great grandchild of the Earth and the Sea, was the tripartite animal. The front part was that of a lion, the tail was a dragons head, and the middle that of a goat. It was one being with the power of three animals. For a long time we thought that this being merely hid itself in our language like a phantom, however it turned out to have merely gone into hiding in order to reproduce. Its offspring has nestled in virtuality in many unknown variations...

When did composite animals and human-animals come into being? Was it the shamans who, during optimal circumstances, could transform from human into animal? Was it the old Egyptian gods who united human and animal characteristics within them? Or the Greek hybrid gods, demigods and monsters? Or the first tribes on the American continent? Certain is that within religious traditions throughout the centuries and on different continents these beings turn up over and over, or, more correctly, have been present since the beginning of time. And that these beings, especially within our western Christian society have been experienced as extremely negative and devilish, as becomes clear from for example the Revelations of St. John or the descriptions of Witch Sabbaths of the Middle Ages. With the emergence of the role of science and the decline of religion, hybrids seemed to have disappeared forever, however, at the end of the 20th century they turn up again, and (probably) more real than ever. Instead of God or the gods, humans become, through for example genetic manipulation and the use of animal donor organs, the creators of new hybrids and - insofar as we can prove of course - the first with a material existence.

Concurrently with these developments of new (types) of lives, by means of test tubes in labs, a new kind of science developed: the science of artificial life. In addition to being a mere tool, the computer has become a breeding place for digital beings that look and act like living organisms and that can "survive" and also "die" without human intervention. The Tamagotchi is only a primitive example of this. Via the computer it is possible to create entire communities of these beings. Many of the researchers occupying themselves with these artificial life forms see them mainly as simulations of aspects of life, but there are those who go further. The claim the possibility of being able of creating beings - as artificial life embodied by robots or within computersystems however - that "live" within every possible definition of the word. And why not, hasn't it turned out to be very difficult to define the term "life"?

Dan Oki is not one of the scientists who occupies himself with artificial life but an artist, although the dividing line between these two disciplines is increasingly difficult to draw. Via computermanipulation he generates images of both mythological hybrids - constructions built from parts of beings from our physical world - and of hybrids of the future. After all, it must be possible (or is it already?) to create a hybrid from a totally different species, right down to the cellular level. Inevitably curiosity arises concerning the possible behavior of these beings: how could they survive, virtually or materially? Will this remain a fable?

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'Dan Oki. Gene Pool'

Himera, praunuka Zemlje i Mora, bila je trodijelna životinja. Prednji did bio je lavlji, rep je bio zmajeva glava, a tijelo kozje. Bilo je to jedno bić sa snagom triju životinja. Dugo smo vremena mislili da se to biće skrilo poput fantoma u našem jeziku, no ipak se pokazalo ca se same prikriva kako bi se razmnožilo. Njezin potomak se ugnijezdio u virtualnosti u mnogim nepoznatim varijacijama.

Kada su nastale sastavljene životinje i ljudi-životinje? Jesu li to bili šamani koji su se, u optimalnim okolnostima, mogli pretvoriti iz čovjeka u životinju? Jesu li to bili stari egipatski bogovi koji su u sebi ujedinili ljudske i životinjske odlike? Ili grčki hibridni bogovi, polubogovi i čudovista? Ili prva plemena na američkom kontinentu?

Sigurno je da se u vjerskim tradicijama kroz stoljeća i na raznim kontinentima ta bića iznova pojavljuju, ili su, točnije rečeno, prisutna od početka vremena. I da se ta bića, naročito u našem zapadnom kršćanskom društvu, doživljavaju izrazito negativno i s vražjim odlikama, što postaje jasno primjerice iz Otkrivenja sv. Ivana ili iz srednjovjekovnih opisa vještičjeg pira. Povećanjem uloge znanosti

a opadanjem religije, izgledalo je ca su hibridi zauvijek nestali. Ipak, ponovno se pojavljuju u 20. stoljeću (vjerojatno) stvarniji no ikada. Namjesto Boga ili bogova genetskom manipulacijom i uporabom životinjskih organa za transplantaciju, ljudi postaju stvoritelji novih hibrida i to - koliko možemo dokazati - prvih s materijalnom

postojanošću. Usporedo s tim razvojima novih (vrsta) života, pomoću laboratorijskih kušalica razvila se nova vrsta znanosti: znanost umjetnog života. Osim što je bio same sredstvo, računalo je postalo mjesto razmnožavanja digitalnih stvorenja koja izgledaju i ponašaju se kao živi organizmi koji mogu "preživjeti" i "umrijeti"

bez ljudske intervencije. Tamagotchi je za to same primitivan primjer. Računalom je moguće stvoriti cijele zajednice tih bića. Mnogi znanstvenici koji se bave takvim oblicima umjetnog života vide ih uglavnom kao simulacije aspekata života, ali postoje i oni koji idu dalje. Oni daju mogućnost stvaranja bica - poput umjetnog

života utjelovljenog u robotima ili računalnim sustavima - koji "žive" unutar svake moguće definicije te riječi. I zašto ne, zar se nije pokazalo vrlo teškim definirati termin "život"?

Dan Oki nije jedan od znanstvenika koji se bave umjetnim životom, već umjetnik, iako je razdjelnicu izmedu tih disciplina sve teže povući. On računalnom manipulacijom stvara slike mitoloških hibrida - konstrukcija stvorenih od dijelova bića iz naseg fizičkog svijeta - i hibrida budućnosti. Naposljetku, mora postati moguće (ili je već?) stvoriti hibrid iz potpuno različitih vrsta, sve do stanične razine. Neizbježno se javlja znatiželja u vezi s mogućim ponašanjem tih bića: