School
for
Poetic
Computation
This course examines the ethical dimensions and consequences of the empirical research of human biomonitoring and genetic sampling. Since the 1960s human biomonitoring and genetic technologies have used the bodies of workers as chemical sensing devices for polluted territories and toxic work sites. The data that is produced by human biomonitoring unveils the metabolic entanglement between human populations and their environment. Beyond the sampling of urine, blood, and tissue of workers as chemical markers for occupational hazards, the DNA of the worker serves as a paramount biospecimen for genetic surveillance. As a group, we will discuss how the practices of genetic sampling and biotechnology enact the logistics of surveillance under the guise of objectivity and environmental public policy. In addition, we will interrogate the practices of contemporary artists who make use of DNA and other biotechnical processes in their work. This course embraces interdisciplinarity by thinking across the natural sciences, genetic surveillance, risk assessment, and bioethics.
Images courtesy of teachers.
This class may be for you if:
fields harrington is an artist who lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. He works across disciplines and media to investigate the social and political dimensions of race, value, and the complex history of science. fields studied at San Antonio Community College and received his BFA from the University of North Texas and his MFA from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a participant in the Whitney Independent Study Program (2019-2020). He has presented solo exhibitions at David Salkin Gallery (2020), and Y2K Group (2021). He has also exhibited in group shows at Parsons School of Design, Recycled Artist In Residence, 52-07 Flushing Avenue, and Automat Gallery. fields harrington was a L.A.B. researcher in residence at The Kitchen in collaboration with The School for Poetic Computation (2023) and participated in the research residency Site to be Seen at RAIR (2021), and teaches at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School, Parsons School of Design, and The Cooper Union.
he/him
· website
· twitter
· instagram
Shen-Shen is a futurist who cares about the wellness of people, communities, and ecosystems. Artist-Activist. Coder-Curator. Photographer-Writer. Taiwanese-Canadian. She was destined to be a hyphenate. She is driven by her love of adventure, curiosity about consciousness, and respect for both science and spirituality. She believes that everything is connected, and so, the best creation lies at the intersection of art and technology. She has an open mind, clear vision, and fire in her heart. She’s here to make the world a better place.
she/her
· website
Our programs are conducted in spoken English with audiovisual materials such as slides, code examples and video. Online programs are held over Zoom.
Please take care and be well. We hope you are comfortable in your housing, living, and working situation in general. Never hesitate to ask us for advice and reach out if you have accessibility requests or need any assistance during your time at SFPC. We will work closely with you towards co-creating the most accommodating learning environment for your needs.
Do you own your cells? Do we own ourselves?
Applications open until Applications closed on August 13, 2023.
You can expect to hear back from us about the status of your application on August 25, 2023. Please email us at admissions@sfpc.study with any questions you have.
For 10 classes, it costs $1200 + processing fees, for a one-time payment. We also offer payment plans. Participants can schedule weekly or monthly payments of the same amount. First and last payments must be made before the start and end of class. *Processing fees apply for each payment.
SFPC processes all payments via Withfriends and Stripe. Please email admissions@sfpc.study if these payment options don't work for you.
Upon payment, your space in the class will be reserved. We offer scholarships for those who cannot pay full tuition. Read more about scholarships below.
If you can’t pay full tuition, we really still want you to apply. Our application will ask you how much you can pay. We will offer subsidized positions in all of our classes, once each one has enough participants enrolled that we’re able to do so.
We have also started a scholarship fund, and we will be offering additional scholarships as community members redistribute their wealth through SFPC. We direct scholarship funds towards participants who are low-income, Black, Indigenous, racialized, gendered, disabled, Queer, trans, oppressed, historicially excluded and underrepresented.
Right now, tuition is SFPC’s main source of income, and that is a problem. It means that we can only pay teachers, pay for space, and organize programs when participants pay full tuition to attend. Tuition is a huge barrier to entry into the SFPC community, and it disproportionately limits Black participants, indigenous participants, queer and trans participants, and other people who are marginalized, from participating. Scholarships are not a long term solution for us, but in the short and medium term we hope to offer them more while we work towards transforming SFPC’s financial model.
For SFPC to be the kind of place the community has always meant it to be, it needs to become a platform for wealth redistribution. If you are a former participant, prospective participant, or friend of the school, and you have the financial privilege to do so, please donate generously. There is enough wealth in this community to make sure no one is ever rejected because of their inability to pay, and becoming that school will make SFPC the impactful, imaginative, transformative center of poetry and justice that we know it can be.
Interested in more learning opportunities at the School for Poetic Computation? Join our newsletter to stay up to date on future sessions and events, and follow us on Instagram and Twitter. Support our programming through scholarships. Get in touch over email.