Austin Stewart dreams of drawing art from science

Artist Austin Stewart is one of the more photographically adept of the many artists who concoct arty-sciencey blendings. Here are two of his projects, with Stewart’s words and pictures:

Second Livestock is a virtual reality world for conventionally farmed chickens. Under the guise of providing a solution to maintain the profitability of conventional chicken farming while allowing the chickens to be “free range,” Second Livestock engages the ethical debates of contemporary animal husbandry and humanity’s increasing immersion into virtual worlds.

In a bustling city center a woman rounds a corner with her eyes fixed on the sidewalk a few feet ahead of her…. Covering her face is a gas mask with wheatgrass growing where the filter should be. With each breath the grass absorbs some of the toxins in the air around her and she inhales some freshly generated oxygen.

(Thanks to Ig Nobel Prize winner Brad Bushman for bringing this to our attention.)

BONUS: Chicken, Chicken, Chicken