The topic of this week's lecture was biotechnology. I found this week's videos to be especially interesting, as they discuss the controversy around bioethics and debates the limitations to an artist's creativity. As Professor Vesna stated in her videos, biotechnology was first employed in art by Joe Davis, who was engaged in genetic engineering and investigated the reaction of certain microbes to outer stimuli.
Joe Davis, a pioneer in biotechnology and art
As a postdoc researcher in chemical engineering at CalTech has stated, “bioart encourages discussions about societal, philosophical, and environmental issues and can help enhance public understanding of advances in biotechnology and genetic engineering.” Indeed, this feat is one that may inspire artists to express in - literally dynamic - art forms, and also invite bioengineers to approach existing problems in a creative manner. Nobel prize winner Alexander Flemming first discovered penicillin through "[painting] stick figures and landscapes on paper and in petri dishes using bacteria". Such creative endeavors are still being performed and rewarded today.
Other forms of biotech art exists through flora and fauna, including an project which genetically engineers silk worms to spin metallic gold — an homage to the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin, and one that utilizes mutant cacti to simulate appearance of human hair in the place of cactus spines. Although these projects do not contribute to direct scientific progress, they convey a "poetic soul" in science that most may not look for ordinarily.
Transgenic silks biomineralized with metallic gold created by Joe Davis, Tara Gianoulis, Hideki Sezutsu, and Mariko Kasuya.
However, the ethnical question still exists; although there should be no end to human creativity, artists must consider the wellbeing of the organismic materials. Eduardo Kac's transgenetic "GFP bunnies" brought the idea of artistic creation to a biological level, as it has essentially created a hybrid species. However, one must wonder whether the rabbit is functional in good health. It is also worth considering how an artistic creation might interact or impact its surroundings. I believe that the artwork should provoke certain ideas and inspirations, but should not interfere with the lives and biological balance of its beholders.
Media:
Joe Davis Portrait. Digital image. Creating Art with Genes and Bacteria. Elsevier Connect, n.d. Web.
FASEBopa. "2015 BioArt Competition Winners: Mehmet Berkmen and Maria Penil." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 July 2016.
Sabanciuniversity. "My Dear Liver: Aesthetics and Ethics of Bio-Art." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 July 2016.
Turning silk into gold: Transgenic silks biomineralized with metallic gold created by Joe Davis, Tara Gianoulis, Hideki Sezutsu, and Mariko Kasuya. Digital image. Creating Art with Genes and Bacteria. Elsevier Connect, n.d. Web.
Sources:
"Creating Art with Genes and Bacteria." Elsevier Connect. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
"Alexander Fleming." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 18 July 2016.
Coskun, Ahmet. Ahmet F. Coskun, Ph.D.(n.d.): n. pag. Web.
FASEBopa. "2015 BioArt Competition Winners: Mehmet Berkmen and Maria Penil." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Nov. 2015. Web. 18 July 2016.
Sabanciuniversity. "My Dear Liver: Aesthetics and Ethics of Bio-Art." YouTube. YouTube, 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 18 July 2016.
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