Biotech + Art

Before reading this week’s resources, I had never thought of bioengineering as an artistic medium. It seemed to risky and controversial to be used in such a way. One artist that supported my original view was Eduardo Kac, whose bioluminescent bunny caused a pretty heated debate amongst animal rights activists on whether scientific testing and genetic manipulation for the purpose of art is inhumane and the more I looked into his story the more I started to agree with the activists rather than the artists. 

Nature and life is one of the most influential subjects for artists so it seems fitting that eventually life itself would transcend the limits of being a subject and venture towards the possibility of becoming a medium. However, when thinking about the risk versus reward, the negative outcomes of animal trials and other biotechnological testing usually far outweigh the benefits even in the pursuit of scientific discovery. So to make the case for the purpose of artistic expression seems nearly impossible. 

However the continuous evolution of creative minds cannot be slowed even by controversy so this step towards biotech as an art form seems inevitable and, as long as boundaries are clear and inflexible, the use of biotechnology to create art could produce a revolutionary perspective on the human form and psyche as we begin to perceive our own bodies as the pencil and paper used to create artistic masterpieces. Human life has always been a captivating and limitless form of expression for each individual but whether to give scientists the power to alter and mold it in the name of art is what remains questionable. To refuse to recognize life as an art form would be unthinkable, but to manipulate it as carelessly as other mediums would be unethical.

Sources

“Eduardo Kac's Gfp Bunny Incites Debate About Ethics Of Transgenic Art.” NATURAL HISTORY OF THE ENIGMA, www.ekac.org/artswire.html.

Gambino, Megan. “The Story of How An Artist Created a Genetic Hybrid of Himself and a Petunia.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 22 Feb. 2013, www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-story-of-how-an-artist-created-a-genetic-hybrid-of-himself-and-a-petunia-25148544/.

Quora. “Is Genetic Engineering A Good Thing For Humanity?” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Dec. 2017, www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2017/12/12/is-genetic-engineering-a-good-thing-for-humanity/#1a3ab1443c4b.

“Transgenic Bunny by Eduardo Kac.” GNN - Genome News Network, www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/03_02/bunny_art.shtml.

“Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form -.” ARTnews, 4 Mar. 2013, www.artnews.com/2013/03/18/biotechnology-as-art-form/.