Week 6 | BioTech + Art | Blog Assignment

Week 6 | BioTech + Art | Blog Assignment

Nowadays, bio science is developing and expanding with sky rocketing speed that is similar to the PC development in the 70s.  Publics are more engaged in the bio science field to “participate” in the breaking through era of biology.  Consequently, artists, as trailblazers of discovering unknowns, step into the bio science field and create dramatic art pieces in terms of biology.  Nevertheless, unlike other science related art, bio art requires artists to work with bio scientists to better expressing art through biological medium.  

Biological techniques are used as tools in creating art pieces, such as transgenics, recombinance and selective breeding.  All of these techniques applied are indeed dealing with the DNA of specific species.  By extracting the DNA series of species and reconstruct through laboratory tests, the characteristics of those species alter to the desired expression.Hunter Cole, as an artist and genetics, interprets science as art through the creation of living artworks and digital arts.  Through her Living Drawings exhibition, she depict the cycle of life and death using controlled bioluminescent bacteria, calling attention to our own mortality.  Other bio artists create different color fruit, or apply genome in music composition. 

 However, as the bio art and bio science appear more frequently and ordinarily, society starts question the mortality of biology development.  People are concerned that the development of bio science would generate ethical conflicts against the value of human beings, like cloning.  Also, the genetics variation might create uncontrollable biological disasters.  Currently, regulations on bio science and bio art is in at a grey zone, and there is no well establishing laws against or supporting bio science.  Therefore, more specific and strict laws and regulations should be established to prevent biological disasters.  

References:

Ludwig, Stephanie. “Hunter O’Reilly: Finds the Art in Pathology.” Breakthroughs Magazine: College of Natural Resources (University of California – Berkeley) Fall 2007.

Nature Genetics 36.4 (April 2004): cover.

Artner, Alan G. “Art Reviews: Drawings Seduce with Illusion of Spontaneity.” Chicago Tribune 7 April 2006.

http://www.luc.edu/biology/hunter.shtml

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinknews/7538619/White-strawberry-that-tastes-like-pineapple-to-go-on-sale.html

http://blogs.saschina.org/aplangpd/2010/04/20/human-cloning-should-be-banned-–-temporarily-at-least/