Week 6: bioart



Visual of Biotechnology (LinkedIn)
This weeks topic was by far the most complex topic we covered because of the aspect of bioethics and if the manipulation of biology is okay in art. I think bioethics is something that is clearly important for our society because it, for the most part has the goal of helping humans. However, the debate that continues to be around is if it okay to alter biological organisms for the use of biotechnology. With that, I believe that biotechnology is important for our society because as said in Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, writer Matthew Eppinette said that “given the fact of human frailty and the current state of medical technology, it is likely that bioethics will touch our lives or a life very near ours at some point.” This article proves the importance of biotechnology in our society as something that is helping us more than hurting us.
Orlan Rewriting Western Art on Her body(UCSB) 
            Even through biotech may be ethnical in my eyes, I do not think using biotechnology for art, unless it is proven to help people, is ethnical because people are just using biological organisms for their own personal art pieces rather then for the greater good of society. For example, artist Orlan used plastic surgery as a form of art. Orlan “she decided to go under the knife again and again – not because her life was at risk, but because she believed surgically changing her body could be a powerful work of art” (Jefferies). Her using plastic surgery as a form of art confused me because she put herself though so many surgeries just to rewrite western art on her own body. She used plastic surgery as a way to be different and create a clash with society instead of helping society. Orlan in this way is an outlaw as noted in the essay “Meanings of Participation: Outlaw Biology?” because she falls outside the system with her nutty ideas. (Kelty 1)
Kathy High: Blood Wars 
On the other side of the art and biotech debate is artist Kathy High who has an art project called Blood Wars where she does a tournament like competition between human white blood cells to see who would win. However, this was not just for her own entertainment because it actually helped scientist to understand “the processes of blood cell division, cell staining, immune cells and the functioning of the immune system, time-lapse microscopy and laboratory protocol” (High). These two examples of biotech art show that it is a complex idea because there are so many different types of this art. The real problem behind biotech art has to do with the ethnics and as noted by Professor Versa the question at hand still is if it is okay for artist to interfere with the “genetic structures of natural systems” (Lecture Part 1).





References

Brown, Kevin. Biotechnology Conference at Frankfurt. Digital image. LinkedIn. N.p., 28 Feb. 2015. Web. 14 May 2017. <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/biotechnology-conference-frankfurt-kevin-brown>.
English 114EM: Women Writers, 1650-1760. Digital image. UCSB. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://oldsite.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ecook/courses/eng114em/endoforlan.htm>.
Eppinette, Matthew. "Bioethics: Why Should I Care?" Bioethics: Why Should I Care? | The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity. Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity, 05 Feb. 2004. Web. 14 May 2017. <https://cbhd.org/content/bioethics-why-should-i-care>.
Jeffries, Stuart. "Orlan's Art of Sex and Surgery." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 July 2009. Web. 14 May 2017. <https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jul/01/orlan-performance-artist-carnal-art>.
"Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator." Kathy High: Projects: Blood Wars. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://www.kathyhigh.com/project-blood-wars.html>
"Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator." Kathy High: Projects: Blood Wars. N.p., n.d. Video. 14 May 2017. <http://www.kathyhigh.com/project-blood-wars.html>

Kelty, Chris. “meanings of participation: Outlaw Biology?” Outlaw, hackers, victorian amateurs: diagnosing public participation in the life sciences today. March 2010. Web. 14 May 2017. PDF.
Vesna, Victoria. “Bioart Part 1.” Lecture. CoLE DESMA 9. Web.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 2: Math & Art

Image
https://graphicriver.net/item/firestorm-photoshop-action/13392199   I like to think that I am more of an art person, however as Professor Vesna mentioned in the lecture this week that artist as famous as Leonardo Di Vinci used math to create his pieces. Leonardo used math formulas to notice perspective, which in his studies he explained the distance between the eye and the art pieces (Vesna). This statement is particularly the case in today's time where technology is important to our culture. Technology helps people to create art every time they use a simple application like Excel and Photoshop. In my job, I work with Photoshop and I use the most basic forms of measurement and math to create my original art pieces. Without math, there would not be the preciseness needed to create these images, while technology has helped to bridge the relationship between math and art. (Kim). http://sciencefacts.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cathode-Ray-Tube-Amusement-Devic...
Read more

Week 7- Neuroscience and Art

Image
Art and the Limits of Neuroscience Image-NY Times Neuroscience and art is a topic that is progressing because people are discovering more ideas about how the two can relate to each other. A quote by neuroscientist Semi Zeki that I found relates a lot to the subject, he said “ It is brains, he says, that see art and it is brains that make art ”(NY Times). In a CNN article, author Elizabeth Landau talks about the human brain and how we are all built to understand characteristics of art like lines, colors, and patterns. With that, she describes how these characteristics of art help the brain to make art seem more real and actually come to life. For example, when in an art exhibit your brain will try to look at the different aspects in the art to try to interpret it using our own ideas of art. A Beautiful Mind Movie Poster  Another interesting aspect of the brain that helped me to understand neuroscience and art is the idea of mental illness. As noted in lecture, ...
Read more

Week 8 Nanotech and Art

Image
Something that caught my eye about nanotechnology came from Lecture two where Dr. Gimzewski talked about the Buckyball (C60), which was found in the 80s by three researchers. The reason I am interested in this concept is because I find it amazing that this new form of carbon was found by looking at space (Lecture 2). Buckyballs for example can be used to make solar cells more efficient, which can transform sunlight into electricity like solar panels. (Understanding Nano).   Art can be found in buckyballs in a 2003 LACMA exhibition called “nano.” This exhibition featured a section where visitors “ use their shadows to manipulate and re-shape projected images of a particular form of the carbon molecule, known as a "buckyball." (Lovgren). This exhibition is a perfect example of how art is helping people to understand nanotechnology. "nano" exhibit at LACMA in 2004 http://www.darksideofcell.info/press/dailybruin.htm Furthermore, Buckeyballs were one of th...
Read more