Now that the Basement lab is set up and we finally have a handle on our the contamination issue that set my plant cultures back in the early stages of cultivation, I have made up a new batch of media. (I have to say that preparing media and sterilising jars is not one of my favourite jobs). The basic ingredients for the media include: Murashige and Skoog Medium with BA and some PPM (plant preservative mixture  to reduce fungal contamination) and Agar. This time around, I am hoping to propagate African Violets and have ordered some leaves from Jane's African Violets.  They should arrive tomorrow and I will be able to start culturing.  It will take about six weeks until I can sub-culture the specimens and I am planning to document the entire process.  Hopefully it will all work without any further mould/fungus issues.  Exciting!

Well its been quite a wait, but with another round of SLQ computers being decommissioned and generously donated it is almost time for the Creative Community Community (CCC) workshops to kick off again.  CCC is all about bridging the Digital Divide. For a little background on this concept - here is a primer by Daniel Flood,  our Creative Production Manager and originator of The Edge's CCC program.   “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Hazards of Prophecy: The Failure of Imagination (1962), Arthur C Clarke There has a lot been said about the Digital Divide; by learned people, from academics through American presidents over the past twenty years and it seems a little glib to recap in a very short time and space. To save the clicking through to another page and losing your attention – let alone momentum – following is a short summation of the thought process around the subject, some ranting between the facts and the foundation on which the remainder of the words planned for these blog entries can be built on. The Digital Divide is the gap between the technological have & have not. It concerns itself with the inequity of access to computer technology and internet, the gap in knowledge that has developed with regards computer technology and the resulting disempowerment which frames digital technology as sacred objects that should remain closed to the masses, rather than tools to be used and, ultimately, broken. Let me take a few moments to unpack the densely packed statement. We live in the Digital Village, where (developed world) borders cease to have any real application. It is a connected space of democratic authorship, where all citizens have the right to speak and to be heard, reasserting that rhetoric and reality are often uncomfortable bed-fellows This Digital Village is a class based world where the merchant class serves as the socio-politic engine of momentum. The Digital Divide has covered thousands of type-face pages around and about itself over the past ten years. With good cause; it’s a real issue, even in the light of falling technology prices and the onward march of Moore’s Law into its own irrelevance. To recap in incredibly broad strokes, the Digital Divide is the gap between the have & have not in digital culture. It concerns itself with the inequity of access to computer technology and internet, the gap in knowledge that has developed with regards computer technology and the resulting disempowerment framing computer technology as sacred objects that should remain closed to the masses, rather than tools to be used and, ultimately, broken. The disempowerment was not always prevalent with regards computer technology.  In the 60’s through the early 80’s, ownership of a computer equated to a working knowledge of the technology. To use a computer, the user faced the command line and a need to have memorized a catalogue of arcane commands with which to make the machine dance like a proverbial monkey. It was not friendly or easy, but it was open & transparent. The first commercially available Apple computer was a build it yourself kit, an irony considering Apple’s evolution into one of the leading industry exemplars of the closed computer system. Times changed and the personal computer found itself in the formative years of becoming an industry distinct from the computer sciences. In the late 80’s and through the turning century, knowledge of a computer’s workings was no longer a requisite of ownership. The command line gave way to iteratively richer Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), and the tinkering that typified the early days of the computer industry was first made complicated by proprietary screws and was later legally discouraged in the Untied States of America & effectively throughout the developed world. Personal computing had become an industry, building obsolescence and dependence into its business model. Users are asked to trust the technologist’s wares and go about the business of consuming technology, maintenance became the realm of the authorized service technicians, disempowering the user’s capacity to maintain their consumer electronics and occasional prosecuting them for opening the beige box (IE. modifying the PS3 to run Linux, building Hackintosh systems etc). This is not to suggest that people are not building and repairing their own computers. Swap meets held around Australia every weekend and the growth of discount hardware retailers are proof contrary, places where enthusiasts gather parts to construct their computers. Enthusiast is the key word, not the wider community but a small human repository of the technical information. Building your own computer is not part of the mainstream. Repairing computer technology – as stated earlier – is the work of authorised service technicians. The construction of computer technology is painted as a complicated process, requiring a capacity for deep technical understanding and the qualification to call oneself a ‘nerd’. Which is crap, ‘and anyone who tells you differently is selling you something’. The repair and construction of computer technology are skills that should made available to everyone and the Creative Community Computing program addresses this gap with underserviced communities in Queensland. The Creative Community Computing program works with recycled computer hardware and Free & Open Source Software (FOSS). It teaches rebuilding and repairing the hardware, installing software and engaging creatively with the computer. When the workshop program concludes, participants take the computer home with the knowledge of how to keep them in working order.   Past CCC workshops have been delivered in partnership with MDA, QPASTT, and the Edmund Rice Flexi Schools. We are looking forward to partnering with these groups again and reaching out to other communities for the 2013 series of workshops.  As every particpant leaves with a functioning computer we tend to run out of systems pretty quickly so we'll be looking to source computers from outside SLQ.  If you have or know of a dozen or so computers laying around idle, please let us know!    

In response to the little unexpected infestations that have occurred in the basement since starting my project, I have decided to produce a work that comments on the unanticipated discoveries that often occur when working with living organisms.  Tentatively titled, A Cabinet for Unexpected Life, the work will most likely consist of a furniture installation incorporating documentation of the mould contamination that spread through the kombucha and into my plant cultures, as well as living cultures of pond life and fruit flies. In preparation for the development of this work, I have started to set up some actual fruit fly cultures.  The initial fruit fly colony established itself in some minced beetroot I was using to produce plant paints.  They were really thriving for a while, but I have decided to select a more established medium to maintain them. After trawling the web for ideas, I have made up two preliminary types of fly food based on recipes from The Bug Farm : Recipe #1: 2 x bananas, 2 x cup rolled oats, 1 cup water, 2tbsp vinegar (to reduce mould growth), 1 tbsp sugar and a pinch of yeast Recipe #2: 6 x tbsp instant mash, 1 tbsp vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, 1 x pinch of yeast I will add more information about the success of each recipe. Let's hope the flies like their new food.

Our creative skills workshop program is one of the most popular offerings on our calendar. Starting in July we will be expanding this program to include some new specialist areas. This means that we need a new bunch of talented facilitators. If you are both talented and can facilitate, please, read on. This is how it will work. We have identified the creative areas that we would like to run short courses in over the next four months. These include gaming, design, DIY Technology, communications, video editing, sound, coding and web design (you can find the specific list here). For each of these areas we want an articulate, reliable, organised, but not boring facilitator who can teach a short course consisting of an intro, intermediate and an advanced level workshop. Hopefully that’s not asking too much. Each short course will be run on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons. To apply as a facilitator you will need to be available during these times, as these days are not flexible (yes, we’re going to be pretty strict about that). As a trade for your availability, articulation, reliability, organisation and general awesomeness we will give you: Paid development time to create the short course– including workshop plans and participant resources for intro, intermediate and advanced sessions.  This development time will be paid at $45 per hour. $45 per hour for each hour you are facilitating. Over an average short course this will be approximately  19 hours. The opportunity to offer additional one-on-one hours to interested participants, also paid at $45 per hour, responsive to demand. Access to training and professional development opportunities. The chance to discuss other facilitation opportunities outside of our core workshop program. To apply To submit an application please email the following to apply@edgeqld.org.au by 5pm , 19 April 2013. A completed check list specifying which areas you are qualified to facilitate a complete short course (intro through to advanced level) Your CV including a minimum of two referees Cover letter (maximum two pages) addressing the following: - Your technical proficiency in your areas of expertise - Your facilitation or community engagement experience - Links to your portfolio or projects where appropriate - Why are you a good fit for The Edge? An example of a 1 page workshop outline for an intro workshop in your area of expertise (please use this template) You are welcome to apply as a facilitator in more than one specialist area. However, please ensure that in your cover letter you demonstrate appropriate technical proficiency is for each area of expertise. Further information If you have any questions or would like further information please contact Daniele Constance daniele.constance@slq.qld.gov.au or 07 3842 9202.

Well....we are finally getting somewhere with setting up a functional lab space in the basement at The Edge.  Last week I cleaned all the surfaces and mopped the area to try and limit the further spread of a fungal infection that had permeated through the kombucha cultures.   It was sad to watch the lovely thick mats of kombucha being discarded.  That is unfortunately just the way it often is with biology and particularly microbiology - moist, warm and nutrient rich environments are highly favoured by fungus and bacteria. I am hoping that we can keep the contamination at bay as I start working with my micropropagation plant project.  I almost have all the required materials and hope to start plant culture in earnest next week.  We are just missing the Agar.  Fingers crossed that it will arrive in the next few days. I have started working on cultivating sweet potatoes. They form plants and roots very easily.  So far I have been able to generate numerous clones from a single potato, simply by removing stem sections with rooting buds.  I am interested to see whether I can also induce root and shoot formation from very small plant sections. As part of this investigation, I am hoping to start documenting this cloning process as part of an evolving exhibition upstairs.  I will start with a single potato stem and cultivate the maximum number of clones each week.  I am interested to see how many clones I may be able to achieve in the last three months of my position.  As my skills progress, I might even be able to cultivate thousands of individual plants from miniscule cuttings. Fun!

Well...it is all starting to happen. I have started to organise the basement area to enable a better workflow for Kombucha growing and other bio-related activities.  I've done most of the groundwork for setting up a plant micropropagation work area and hope to begin actively experimenting in the next few weeks.  I will start my exploration of plant cell culture using African Violets.  They seem to be a pretty standard "getting started in plant culture" option and Jane's African Violets online store has some really beautiful varieties available including double-flower and variegated varieties.  They are sold by leaf for micropropagation and can be shipped to most Australian states excl. WA and Tas. I am particularly impressed by the amazing names: Blue Dragon, Galactic Star, Ghost Dance and Rainbow's Quiet Riot - brilliant! Along with organising a space to start experimenting, I have also began actively mapping out the plant/bacteria growth pod.  I was originally planning to build the whole thing from scratch to learn more about electronics and wiring, but it is actually much, much cheaper to buy pre-built components and cobble them together.  Most of the equipment can be bought online from Ebay at a fraction of the cost of electronics stores.  The main trick will be designing the housing and keeping the elements flexible to enable a variety of specimens for sampling. We will be buying in the main components this week, which means that I can get started on the actual pod pretty soon.  At this point, I anticipate that the prototype will be pretty simple (and ugly), but once the specifications have been worked out it will be easier to fit them into a custom and more visually appealing structure. Along with these elements I am also hoping to explore aeroponics.  This method is similar to hydroponics, and involves the growth of plants without soil in a moisture rich environment.  I am going to trial aeroponics with bonsai trees and a basic water misting/fog device from Ebay.  It should (cross fingers) work in terms of sustaining the bonsai, but I also think it would look pretty spectacular!

We've been fielding a lot of questions of late about the best way to book a workshop at The Edge. We've made some changes from last year, so here's our little how to guide for 2013. On the second Tuesday of each month the program for the coming two months will be available for viewing on our calendar, What’s On blog and EventBrite booking portal. Priority bookings will be emailed to waitlists at this point, but general bookings won’t open until 10am on the third Tuesday. This will give you a week to plan what you would like to attend and set a diary reminder for bookings. You will be able to book one month in advance for intro workshops (ie. book on third Tuesday of February for March intro workshops) and two months in advance for intermediate and advanced workshops (ie. book on third Tuesday in February for March and April intermediate and advanced workshops). Our newsletter, which rounds up all the dates for the coming month, will be mailed out on the third Tuesday of each month. While we make every effort to get it to you in time for when bookings open, we can’t guarantee when it will land in your inbox. We have had reports of up to 6 hours delay from send to receipt, so please also be proactive about checking our calendar on the morning that bookings open. Waitlists and priority booking Once a workshop is booked out we activate a waitlist. We offer waitlists for all workshops that are scheduled to run again. Waitlists serve two purposes; they are the first people we contact to fill places made available by cancellations and those on the waitlist are also offered priority booking next time the workshop runs. Priority booking can be a tricky business. We don’t want a workshop full before bookings open to the public, so for our free, intro workshops we cap the number of people able to be listed on the waitlist. For example, in a workshop that can accommodate 10 participants we cap the waitlist at 5, leaving a minimum of 5 places available when bookings open. This may mean that by the time you go to book the workshop the waitlist is full (which means the option won’t even be available on the booking page). In this instance you will need to keep an eye on our calendar for when the workshop is scheduled to run again and make sure you are quick off the mark to book in when bookings open. Waitlists for our intermediate and advanced workshops are not capped. These waitlists are still used to fill cancellations and offer priority bookings, but we will also schedule additional workshops if the waitlist is lengthy. Group bookings If you have a group of people in your organisation who are interested in attending one (or several) of our workshops, please let us know. We can arrange a custom delivery of the workshop for up to 10 participants at a time that suits you, rather than trying to fit you all into an existing scheduled session. This also means that we can tailor a session combining a mix of intro, intermediate and advanced workshops. Demand for workshops In January 2013 we opened our Fast-Tracked February program, offering over 30 workshops in the space of 28 days. The intention was to give you the chance to catch up on some of our more popular workshops. When bookings opened we had over 3500 hits to the booking pages for our intro workshops alone. There were 190 places available in these workshops. There is a huge demand for our free, intro workshops. We believe it is important for us to continue to offer these sessions free to the public, but this does mean they are delivered at a cost to us. As with any organisation, we have a set amount of resources to deliver our programs and we are currently offering as many workshops as we are able. There are plans afoot to increase our capacity to offer free workshops, but as with any grand plans these things take time. Attending workshops If you are able to book a place in a workshop please remember to come. You have received a place that dozens (sometimes hundreds) of people tried to book. Please so show respect for them and let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to make it so we can allocate your place to someone on the waitlist. If you have not arrived in time for the commencement of a free, intro workshop your place may be given to someone who is onsite and ready to attend. You can email us or give us a call on 07 3842 9400 if you are going to be late. Places in paid workshops will not be reallocated. We welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions and hope you enjoy our workshop program in 2013.

I spoke to Mick and Danielle last week and they were both pretty excited about the prospect of a usable laboratory to enable a variety of workshops or meet-ups for people interested in working across art, science and technology. After searching the web and comparing material costs from a variety of biotech supply companies, I have finally compiled list of basic supplies and equipment and have more of an idea of the costs associated with setting up a basic wet lab at The Edge.  We already have a microscope and  camera thanks to BioScience Catalyst Cameron Wilson, so that at least reduces some of the set-up cost.  So far the list includes: Fridge/freezer Microwave Pressure cooker (sterilisation) Blender DIY laminar flow hood for sterile work DIY incubator Cetrifuge Dissection tools - scalpel, forceps, scissors Beakers (1000mL, 500mL, 250mL) Erlenmeyer flasks (1000mL, 500mL) PPE (gloves, lab coats, glasses) Spray bottles Petri dishes Slides and coverslips Centrifuge tubes (1mL, 15mL and 50mL) Culture vessels Transfer pipettes Test tubes and racks Measure spoons Balance Ethanol Sodium hypochloride Vinegar Agar Distilled water Labels Autoclave tape Cling wrap Aluminum foil With the addition of project specific chemicals and specimens this basic lab could enable a range of low-risk engagements for users including: Micropropagation (plant cell culture) DNA and chlorophyll extraction Isolation of mitochondria and chloroplasts Specimen preparation, staining and microscopy Microbiology (microbial work - bacteria and fungi) Mummification (I have a great protocol for doing this using basic pool supplies) Cameron's Kombucha culture I  am also excited about the potential of linking these elements to other tech projects at The Edge: e.g. plants as gaming controls, microbe or plant based generative visualisations.  As new Catalysts and Residents come through, more elements and workshops could be also added to the list. Today I will finally move away from the computer and catalogue existing supplies and materials.  I also want to look at the available spaces in The Edge basement and look at possibilities for structuring the physical lab set-up.  

In addition to looking into plant cell culture, I have also been thinking about making a laminar flow hood for use at The Edge.  A laminar flow hood is an enclosed cabinet used in animal or plant cell and tissue culture where a sterile work environment is required. The 'laminar flow' part of the title refers to the smooth and low velocity flow of air within the cabinet. To maintain a sterile working environment most laminar flow cabinets incorporate an industrial blower  and HEPA filter to filter out most airborne contaminants.  Laminar flow hoods can be constructed using a vertical or horizontal design with different airflow options. While horizontal laminar flow hoods look easier to construct they offer no user protection.  Vertical hoods are better as the the air can be expelled through a second exhaust filter. The cost of a new laboratory laminar flow hood ranges from $2000 (basic mobile hood) to $5000 (large permanent hood).  Since these costs are prohibitive, I am considering constructing one myself.  If I can get component costings to come it at around $1000, I think it would really be worth it (and a great challenge). I spent a good chunk of time yesterday trying to find DIY instructions for laminar flow hoods and getting a bit of an idea about cost and design strategies.  The best instructions are from Fungifun (great construction pics) and Lotte and Thomas Orchids (great overall introduction and info - PDF Instructructions).   The components are still a little expensive with blower and HEPA filter coming in at around $700 - 800. Despite this cost, it is still a lot cheaper than the laboratory equivalent. On the MAKE PROJECTS website there is also information about constructing a sterile box using a HEPA air purifier.  While this may initially seem like a cheap option, the turbulent air flow produced by the purifier would most likely do more harm than good.  As such, the construction of a 'proper' laminar flow cabinet seems to be the only really viable option. For plant cell culture a horizontal laminar flow cabinet would be sufficient.  However, since filtered air is expelled directly through the front of the cabinet, it offers no protection to the user and would not be good to use for other purposes, such as low risk microbiology.  If I am going to construct a laminar flow hood for around $1000, I feel it should be able to be used for multiple purposes at The Edge.  In any case more research must be done...