Week 6 | BioTech + Art

WEEK 6 | BioTech + Art
Nicole Chuhak

Last week we discussed art as it related to Medical Technologies, and this week we took a similar look at how art works hand in hand with Biotechnology. The use of biotech in art

Bioart: Melding Biotech and Art

takes many different forms. One example is using genealogy within art, as is being done by artists Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Karen Ingram. In their project Bioart: Melding Biotech and Art these two artists collaborate with biotech researcher Wythe Marcshall to use art in order to express a biological shift in the world in place of the societal shift art usually shines a light on (Dewey).

Doll composed of mouse cells

Another example of artists using biotech can be seen when artists use live tissue in their works. Two artists that have been doing this for over 20 years are Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr. The two have produced a number of different bioart projects, where they use living cells to do anything from making miniature dolls out of mouse cells to making wings out of pig cells (Miranda). These artists produce these projects in order to shine a light on the “nature of life,” and after more reading, I really enjoyed not only what the artists are trying to say, but also the respect they have for the living cells they are using.

Stelarc's famous third ear

There are many other bioartists, such as Stelarc who grew a third ear on his arm, that also use art to make an artistic statement (Vesna). When I think of bioart, I think there is a line that needs to be drawn that limits how much biological manipulation can happen in the name of art. For example, using cells from a creature to start a project that requires regenerating cells that is acceptable. I think the line should be drawn when the use of living creatures begins to affect the creature’s quality of life; at that point, bioart is really unacceptable.

Sources:

Dewey, Heather. "Bioart: Melding Biotech and Art." SXSW Schedule 2015. Web. 10 May 2015.

Miranda, Carolina. "Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. Web. 10 May 2015.

Vesna, Victoria. "Unit Four: MedTech + Art." Lecture. 2012