Thumbnails:
List:
Year:
Category:
Session:
Poster:
Getting poster data...
Ryo Sakai, Peter Konings, Yves Moreau, Koen Vanmechelen, Jan Aerts (KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; iMinds Medical IT, Leuven, Belgium)
The Cosmopolitan Chicken Project by Koen Vanmechelen, a Belgian artist, aims to explore the phenotypic and genetic evolution of chicken breeds as a proxy for human evolution and diversity. This project has created several generations of hybrids based on purebred domestic chickens. In collaboration with the artist, we created a data-driven sculpture to visualize the genetic heterozygosity of one particular hybrid, Mechelse Ancona. After genotyping, the number of homozygous and heterozygous loci were counted at their chromosomal positions, and translated as peaks in 3-dimensional space. Each chromosome is laid out in a circle, connecting at the starting position. Peaks pointing towards the center represent homozygous genotypes; peaks pointing outward show heterozygous regions. As a result, inbred chickens generate smoother outlines whereas crossbred ones result in a form with many outward-pointing spikes. The 3D models were developed in Processing and printed by a commercial 3D printing service. The data-driven sculptures were incorporated in the art’s installations at Biennial of Venice and BOZAR Electronic Arts Festival in 2013.