Artology

SANTA FE REPORTER: If you’re trying to self-fund an art space, here’s an idea: Buy a burned-out building. Fixer-uppers are highly affordable, and smoke damage is an edgy aesthetic. That’s how Andrea Polli and John Donalds landed a 1940s home near the intersection of Agua Fría and Baca Street to establish a project space called Biocultura.

“There’s one space we call the Burn Room, and any time we show it to artists they say, ‘This is so beautiful!’” says Polli. She’s a professor of art and ecology at the University of New Mexico, and Donalds is an architectural designer. The couple has collaborated on built structures that act as incubators for biological art projects. When Polli went on sabbatical in the spring semester of this year, they jumped at the chance to create a forum for artists, scientists and the public to converge. They’ve been living in the house as they renovate it and prepare for Biocultura’s opening event, which takes place on Thursday.

“Biology affects us in everyday life,” Polli says. “I come from a computer background, and I can separate that from my life—but biology affects the food that I eat and the people around me. It affects my dog.” A primary focus of Biocultura is the burgeoning, interdisciplinary field known as bio art and design. Polli took an interest in exploring biology through her work when she moved from New York City to Albuquerque in January 2009.

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