Week 6 | BioTech + Art |

    Previously I believed that biotechnology was always the answer, and it would be good to use it in the future. I did not think of the implications of biotechnology until professor Vesna brought them up. What stuck out to me the most was what Joe Davis did in the Week 6 View part 1. I did not realize how far people would take biotechnology, for example, he injected a mouse with the map of the Milky Way. I just thought people would use it in more practical senses, such as GMO plants to increase yield. I believed that technology would go hand and hand with life, and changes that could be made should be made. Now I realize that there are pros and cons to using life as an expressive medium.

https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/Transgenic


    Life should be seen as a valid medium for art. Life can be used as a medium, which leads to ethical issues. However, it is difficult to determine what crosses the line and is unethical. People have been practicing art in biotechnology for thousands of years, but not to the degree of what is capable now. For example, in dog breeding 15,000 years ago and still today, people selectively breed dogs in order to create their ideal aesthetic. People use living things as a tool to express their art. These dogs often times have severe health issues, but people have continued regardless. Now people are able to directly alter the genes, rather than have subtle changes across a span of generations. Editing genes so traits are expressed follows the same concept as dog breeding, but the results are more immediate.

https://www.cesarsway.com/how-to-care-for-newborn-puppies/


    Restrictions for biotechnology in the arts should not be any stricter than the restrictions that industry/academia have to follow, which also means the restriction should not be laxer either. Art, science, and technology are equally important, which means the standards in which they are held should also be equivalent. Artists should not just view biotechnology as something that is equivalent to a blank canvas; living things are more than just tools to achieve a goal. Restrictions should be put in place across all groups, even if it means limiting human creativity. While it may be impossible to entirely remove the harm to the specimen, the harm can be reduced. Scientific labs and even livestock farms have to follow guidelines, so artists utilizing biotechnology should also be held accountable.

https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-White-rat/395292/7103821/view





Citations

“Ethics in Art and Science.” UKEssays.com, www.ukessays.com/essays/arts/concepts-ethics-art-8328.php.

Gorman, James. “The Big Search to Find Out Where Dogs Come From.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Jan. 2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/01/19/science/the-big-search-to-find-out-where-dogs-come-from.html

“Joe Davis' 'Microvenus' as Molecular Muse.” Jacket2, jacket2.org/commentary/joe-davis-microvenus-molecular-muse.

Miranda, Carolina A. “Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form.” ARTnews.com, ARTnews.com, 18 Nov. 2019, www.artnews.com/art-news/news/biotechnology-as-art-form-2184/.

Solon, Olivia. “Bioart: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Using Living Tissue as a Medium.” Wired, Conde Nast, www.wired.com/2011/07/bioart/.





 




Comments

  1. Yuuki Morishige DESMA9May 9, 2021 at 1:20 AM

    Hi Kent I enjoyed reading your blog! What stood out to me the most was the information about biotech in art for many years before contemporary times. I didn't realize that selective breeding was one type of long running biotech examples. It's interesting to see that art and biotech were actually intertwined for awhile before current technological advancements made it more apparent (such as the glowing rabbit done by implanting jellyfish genes into a white rabbit). It shows how far biotech has come espcially in the past few decades. I agree with you that restrictions in biotech and art should be just as strict as biotech in academia/industry. Dealing with living organisms both with a conscious or not is a serious topic because they are living things and not just a "blank canvas" like you mentioned. Once again great job!

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