Week 6: Biotech + Art

Being a Human Biology and Society Major, I was already fairly familiar with the concept of biotechnology prior to reviewing this week’s material, including some of the bio-art mentioned like the fluorescent rabbit.  However, I was not aware of the full extent of the political undercurrent that surrounds this movement.  For instance, I did not realize that artists were tackling questions such as what constitutes life through their work (Levy).  But, this makes sense as art is a great medium to use to inspire discussion, especially because it gives people a tangible representation of an abstract concept.  
Photo of Alba, the fluorescent rabbit created by Eric Kac in conjunction with French scientists. 

While it is undoubtedly useful to combine biotechnology and art, doing so raises a myriad of political and ethical concerns.  Politically speaking, the development of new, living creations could completely shatter our the way society has been set up, particularly with the development of something such as Rinaldo’s work Autopoiesis. 

Rinaldo's Autopoiesis, a mechanical 15
arm robot that changes and adapts
based on experiences it "learns".

Ethically speaking, working with anything living, whether it be DNA or mammals or even creating a robot that mimics human life, raises the question of whether trivial use of these types of genetic engineering mechanisms should be allowed, as well as questions like can someone own a the genetic material of someone or something else.  


Despite the potential for political and ethical concerns, biotechnology and art are an important tools for encouraging public participation and pushing the status quo.  Even though there are
Facilities at THELAB, a Los Angeles based DIY biology space
open to use for anyone who wishes to become a member.
many concerns over “outlaw” biology and DIY biologists or artists accidentally releasing something like a super virus, most of these concerns are unfounded as your average DIY biologist does not have access to the tools and resources needed for this to occur.  Besides, without historical instances of DIY and outlaw biologists pushing the boundaries, some of our most important scientific advances may never have happened. 

Sources:
“Autopoiesis (Web).” Ken Rinaldo, www.kenrinaldo.com/portfolio/autopoiesis/. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“GFP Bunny.” GFP Bunny, www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html#gfpbunnyanchor. Accessed 10 May 2017.

“Facility.” THELAB, www.thel4b.com/?page_id=49. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Kelty, Chris. “Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?” n.p. Accessed 10 May 2017.

Levy, Ellen. “Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications.” n.p. Accessed May 2017.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 7: Neuroscience + Art

Image
The brain is the most complex, and arguably the most important, of all the organs in our body.  For something that plays a role in everything human beings do, there are still so many things that are unknown about the brain.  However, in recent years, the field of neuroscience has been making advances on imaging and studying the brain and its functions.  Because of the brain’s central role in daily life, it is not surprising that studying the brain has gone beyond the field of neuroscience to influence other parts of society, what Franzetto and Anker termed neuroculture.   Examples of the some of the many different shapes a neuron can have. What makes neuroscience and all things brain related so easy to apply to other areas is the vast amount of diversity within the brain.  Not only are most of the neurons in the brain different, unique shapes but the brain performs so many function from controlling movement to pain awareness to consciousness. The topic of consciousness coul
Read more

Week 9: Space + Art

Image
Few people would be shocked to hear that the human race was, and still is, fascinated by all things space.  I think that part of this fascination comes from the fact that space is relatively unknown and most of the things about it will not be uncovered during any of our lifetimes.  Copernicus' work on the sun centered universe But, this does not stop people from wondering and trying.   The wonder with space dates back to the times of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who named the planets after their gods and continued into Renaissance times with Galileo and Copernicus, one of the first to postulate that the earth rotated around the sun and not the other way around.   Even today people continue to look to space as inspiration.   Many works of science fiction deal with space exploration or colonization and, in doing so, create these fantastic images of a world just beyond our reach. Some artists have gone in the opposite direction and have captured what space looks like from our
Read more

Math and Art

Image
If you were to ask the average person their thoughts on the connection between math and art, chances are their answer would say something like they aren’t.  People see math as a very left brained logical undertaking while art is seen as a right brain, creative activity.  I will admit that I was one of those people who did not really see much of an overlap between the two.  But, the more I have thought about and gone through the readings, I can see just how wrong I was.  The first thing that really sparked this connection for me was Professor Vesna’s lecture dealing with the golden mean.   Michelangelo's painting on the sistine chapel with lines superimposed  showing the presence of the golden mean I gravitated towards this as it is a concept I was already familiar with and is closer to the math/science world that I am more comfortable in.  Seeing how often the golden mean was used in art and why was the first time I truly saw the immense overlap between math and art. F
Read more