There have been controversies
regarding biotechnology. First of all, what is biotechnology? Nature
biotechnology defines biotechnology as a broad discipline where biological
processes, organisms, cells or cellular components are exploited to
develop new technologies. As we already know, this technology has tremendous
applications in agriculture, industry, and the medicine. Since this technology
harnesses living organisms and at the same time this technology could bring
about the alarming consequences not only in human beings but also in overall
ecological systems, there have been a significant amount of debates surrounding
this technology. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) resulting from advances
in the field of genetic engineering are good examples as can be learned more
through the TED talk about GMO controversies by Borut Bohanec, who is a head of
the department of genetics and biotechnology at the University of Ljubljana.
Example of GMOs: Herman the Bull, Naturalis, for the
production of lactoferrin enhanced milk.
Many artists have shown great interest in biotechnology,
incorporating biotechnology in their art creation. As Professor Victoria Vesna mentioned
in the lecture video, there have been controversies regarding the definition of
BioArt as well. Then, what is BioArt? BioArt Term was coined by Eduardo Kac in
1997, and this an art practice where humans work with live tissues and living
organisms such as bacteria. In this BioArt, the artworks are created in laboratories,
galleries, or artists’ studios using biotechnology such as genetic engineering,
tissue engineering, and cloning. For some artists, they only limit the BioArt
to “living forms”, while other people also include art which uses the imagery
of biotechnology. Because this art deals with living things, it has been raising
serious ethical concerns.
This type of art goes back to the mid-1980s when Joe
Davis, a Boston-based artist, created the piece, named “Microvenus,” which is
shown below. This is the artwork which was constructed from synthetic DNA
molecules and symbolizes both external female genitalia and an ancient Germanic
rune which represents the female Earth. In this work, his idea was to place the
human genome into bacteria and send those into deep space. He also said, “The
biological world is a giant factory.”
Microvenus by Joe Davis. The work was carried out with
molecular geneticist Dana Boyd at Jon Beckwith’s laboratory at Harvard Medical
School and at Hatch Echol’s laboratory at University of California, Berkeley.
Some artists spend a lot of time in the lab as much as
they spend their time in their studios. They have cultivated human tissues,
assembled DNA, and utilized modified bacteria almost like scientists. During the lectures and looking into many
resources, I could run into many bioart works which were quite shocking. One of
them is the work by the French Conceptual artist Orlan, who created a “Harlequin
coat” from a patchwork of human tissue. This work contains live co-culturing of
various cells from different species and ethnic origins even including those
from her own body in a custom-made bioreactor together with a video projection
of cell movies.
Harlequin coat by
the French Conceptual artist Orlan
In addition, the
fact that Australian artist Stelarc had an ear-shaped cartilage implant
surgically inserted into his left forearm was quite threatening. Furthermore, Victimless
Leather, a thumb-size “jacket” cultivated from mouse tissue which was produced
by Oron Catts and Ionat Zur, was also quite striking especially because of the
fact that they grew wings from pig bone cells and made miniature dolls from
mouse tissue.
By Looking into
many different works by these artists, on one hand, I felt so amazed by their
creativity. However, on the other hand, I felt very shocked and even concerned.
Even though I could understand that they have been trying to express their
thoughts via biotechnology including living bodies or cells, still based on the
fact that this could bring about serious ethical issues I thought that there
should be some lines. Furthermore, regarding the BioArt, MoMA’s Antonelli says,
“It is just the beginning. It is a moment when we are drunk with possibility.” This
actually makes me feel more concerned.
References
"BioArt." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
"Biotechnology" Nature.com.
Nature Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016
"Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs): Transgenic Crops and
Recombinant DNA Technology" Nature.com. Nature
Publishing Group, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
"Genetically Modified Organism." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
"Microvenus: Joe Davis : Genetics and
Culture." Microvenus: Joe Davis : Genetics and Culture. N.p., n.d.
Web. 08 May 2016.
"ORLAN - Harlequin Coat." -
FACT (Foundation for Art and Creative Technology). N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May
2016.
"Science as Art Unites
Disciplines." : Artists Use Microbiology as a Medium for Art.
N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
TEDxTalks. "GMO Controversies -
Science vs. Public Fear: Borut Bohanec at TEDxLjubljana"YouTube.
YouTube, 10 Jan. 2014. Web. 08 May 2016.
"Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art
Form." ARTnews. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
"What Is Biotechnology?" BIO.
N.p., n.d. Web. 08 May 2016.
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