William Myers is an American curator, author, and professor based in Amsterdam. His book Biodesign (2012, 2018, 2022 editions) identifies the emerging practice of integrating biological processes into design and architecture. It is published by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York and Thames & Hudson worldwide. The most recent edition is published in China in collaboration with CAFA. His book Bio Art: Altered Realities profiles art that uses biology in new ways or responds to scientific advances which disrupt our concepts of identity, nature, or the definition of life.
Myers serves as the Founding Director for the new Museum of 21st Century Design (M21D), a new organization committed to exhibiting and collecting design that generates positive impact. M21D works with partner institutions around the world to create content, engage audiences, and present collections in new ways.
Recent exhibitions Myers organized include: Objects from our 21st Century Ancestors in 2023 at the new Boijmans Dept, and in 2022: Gene Cultures at the new MIT Museum in Boston, Out of Place and Time at Dutch Design Week, and Nature Loves Technology at the international Floriade festival. See full list of 16 exhibitions here. His book published in 2022 is about the Dutch bioart and design awards, published by NwO and MU Hybrid Artspace is available free online.
Past exhibitions include UNREAL at Science Gallery Rotterdam, Biodesign: From Inspiration to Integration at RISD, Biodesign in Rotterdam at The New Institute, and Cut/Paste/Grow at Proteus Gowanus in Brooklyn, New York. In 2016 William curated Humans Need Not Apply at Science Gallery Dublin, and Human + Artificial Creativity at design festivals in Istanbul and in Łódź. Research examining the impacts of artificial intelligence on how we work, socialize, and express ourselves creatively is detailed in accompanying catalogue essays. These argue for updating our social infrastructure of education, taxation, and labor unions.
Myers has also organized, in collaboration with Angelique Spaninks, several exhibitions for MU Hybrid Arthouse in Eindhoven including ReShape, Life Time, Fluid Matter, and Matter of Life. His writing and exhibitions have been profiled in the journal Science, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian Magazine, Volkskrant, Domus, and Folha de São Paulo, among others. William has been an invited presenter at Harvard University, Tate Modern, MoMA, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Universitário Belas Artes de São Paulo, Oxford University, International University of Catalunya, Leiden University, the Royal College of Art, RMIT, and Genspace, the first community biotech lab in the United States.
William also serves as the jury chairman for the Bio Art and Design Awards in the Netherlands, granting €75.000 each year to create new works. Previously he worked for the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Guggenheim Museum, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Hunter College, Vitra Design Museum, TU Delft, MIT Museum, Design Academy Eindhoven, Science Galleries in Dublin and Rotterdam, and Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam.
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