Week 6 BioTech+Art
After watching this week's videos and reading up on the subject, I discovered that there are many links between biotechnology and art. As technology advances, the two are becoming more closely aligned and a new crossover field has emerged: BioArt, a combination of biotechnology and art that provides artists with new tools and materials to create their work, as well as a platform to explore issues such as life science and ethics.
Suzanne Anker
Everson Museum of Art
I am interested in BioArt because I find that biological artists often focus on and explore issues such as life, ethics, society, and the environment in their artworks, which are highly conceptual and socially relevant.
I was impressed by bio-artist Eduardo Kac's GFP Bunny project, which features a rabbit called 'Alba'. Alba looks like a normal rabbit in normal light, but when exposed to ultraviolet light, her fur fluoresces green, giving her a magical and striking visual effect. In my opinion, this is a visually stunning piece of art, but the project has caused widespread controversy in the community. Some support the idea, seeing it as a useful exchange between science and art that helps people think and discuss life, science, and art. However, many others have raised questions and concerns about it, fearing that the application of gene-editing technology could have a potentially negative impact on bioethics, animal rights, and the ecological environment.
Alba, the fluorescent bunny
alluvium-journal.org
But in my opinion, despite the controversy surrounding the GFP Bunny project, it is a remarkable work of art that demonstrates the innovation and diversity of bio art and raises public awareness and discussion about bio art.
Works Cited:
Kac, Eduardo. “GFP Bunny at 20.” Journal of Posthuman Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, Dec. 2020, pp. 119–28. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.5325/jpoststud.4.2.0119.
Gordon, Jason. What Is Bio Art? | ARTDEX. 14 July 2020, https://www.artdex.com/what-is-bio-art/.
GFP Bunny. https://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html#gfpbunnyanchor. Accessed 12 May 2023.
Mitchell, Robert E. Bioart and the Vitality of Media. University of Washington Press, 2015.
Stracey, F. Bio-art: the ethics behind the aesthetics. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 10, 496–500 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrm2699.
Hi Karina! I really enjoyed reading your post for this week! I agree with you that due to the advancement of technology, both biotechnology and art are getting closer together and more artists are using it together more in order to express their own views in a unique way. Also, I like how you talked about the Bunny project and what people from both sides think about it while talking about your own views as well. Great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Karina, I think the 'Everson Museum of Art' image you added is a great encompassment of what BioArt means and what it can bring to the art and science communities! I also liked how you included the example of Eduardo Kac's Alba bunny, and how it sparked controversy. I agree with you in that Alba is a very unique work that captures the innovation of BioArt, but to me I think the reasoning behind the controversy may be too sound to look past. I definitely feel like there might be something unethical about altering an animal's DNA and risking permanent damage/destruction to it.
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