Biology + Art = Bio-Art

          

          This week’s blog focuses on the importance of bio-art and its political impact. But in order to look at these relationships, one must look at the main disciplines involved in bio-art. In a book titled the Necessity of Art, it suggests that if we look back in history, we can see that the disciplines of art and science both originate from rituals of everyday living. The book states that the “common ground between science and art can be characterized as an underlying will to enhance human understanding and extend our experience of the world”. Both Art and science share dynamic skillsets of observation, experimentation, and research while harnessing the desire of understanding something new and communicating this to others (Carolina 15).

Bio-art represents the long human tradition of shaping the living environment. In the Pala Antonelli “Museum of Modern Art”, staff members were forced to kill a work of art. Bio-artists Oran Catts and Ionate Zurr, producers of the “Tissue Culture and Art Project” created a thumb-size jacket called the “Victimless Leather” for the museum that was created from mouse tissues. (Gyostray 26). The “jacket” was house in a sterile glass ball in order to contain the cells that were still alive, multiplying, and threaning to clog the incubation system. Artists like Catts and Zurr are perfect examples of individuals breaking down the arbitrary division between the living and nonliving. Over the years, many artists have been giving up studio time in order to be a in a laboratory setting. (Miranda 13). This transition is the result of not only self-interest, but for future generations.

Creativity breeds creativity especially in the expansion of forms of public participation in the disciplines of art and science (Outlaw 2). This implies that the more innovation there is, the more innovation there eventually will be. Artists and scientists attempt to simulate life and create new life-forms while accepting the various classifications of life (Levy 15). Bio-art forms from the “Victimless Leather” to even pieces of steak formed from the live cells of a frog are innovations that bring a new political light and advocacy statement. That people must come together to understand their personal role in acting upon collective issues in our world today such as climate change and species loss. Is Bio-Art the only form of collective action for these particular issues? How is one supposed to participate in Bio-art with a lack of resources?

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CITATIONS

Levy, Ellen. "Defining Life: Aritsts Challenge Conventional Classifications. 2003. 1-17. Print.

Outlaws Symposium, "Meanings of Participation:Outlaw Biology? Outlaws, Hackers, Victorian Gentlemen." 1-8. Print.

Miranda, Carolina. "Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. Web. 11 May 2015.

Gyostray., Katrina. "Art and Biotechnology: When Art Looks into Science." Art and Biotechnology. 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 May 2015.

Chen, Chin-Chung. "Do Humans Need GMOs? -- A View from a Global Trade Market." Do Humans Need GMOs? -- A View from a Global Trade Market. Web. 11 May 2015.