Week 6: Biotech and Art


In the week's lecture videos, Professor Vesna discussed how artists have been able to expand their creativity by integrating biotechnology into their art. The use of biotechnology in art is very controversial when it comes to artists' using living things like animals or humans and using them last "art". Some individuals say that using transgenics and gene modification could  help 'bring us closer to our own human health issues' (High). Kathy High's Experiment on rat laughter that recorder sounds of rats was shaped after the human phenomena that laughter is contagious. Experiments like High's could help us humans for the better.

Unlike High, some artists have been judged for using living organism as art. the controversy comes from whether art should be worth more than humanistic. I don't think artists should use life as a form of art because artists that use bioart just for decoration or just others entertainment is different than scientist using actual life for studies or human advancements.




I don't think artists should be allowed to use scientific methods just for the heck of art. Bioart should not have been created just to be  appealing. It could eventually get crazy if there is not boundaries put on it or else artists' could use life as art just for the heck of it, with no actual benefit. If artists keep manipulating what nature originally created for this earth, something terrible  animals with human features or characteristics.




High, Kathy. "Kathy High: Visual/media Artist, Independent Curator, Educator." Kathy High: Projects: Rat Laughter. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2017.

Bhaviin Pethani, Student Follow. "Transgenic Talk." LinkedIn SlideShare. N.p., 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 15 May 2017.

Solon, Olivia. "Bioart: The Ethics and Aesthetics of Using Living Tissue as a Medium." Wired. Conde Nast, 28 July 2011. Web. 15 May 2017.

Vaage, Nora S. "What Ethics for Bioart?" SpringerLink. Springer International Publishing AG, 3 Mar. 2016

Vesna, Victoria. "5 BioArt Pt2." YouTube. N.p., n.d.

Comments

  1. Lexi Jasper-BaylinMay 16, 2017 at 9:20 AM

    Aaliyah, I completely agree with you that animals and humans should not be used for the sake of art. Learning about bioart was interesting, however it should no be practiced with living creatures. It already has created unnatural organisms that do not belong in nature. I do not think artists should integrate genetics into their work. There should ultimately be some line or boundary between art and science and practicing them properly and ethically.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 4: Medtech + Art

Image
Niiler, Eric. "Mind-Controlled Prostheses Let Hands Feel Again : DNews." DNews. N.p., 8 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 Apr. 2017.   Medical technology mixed with art is another version of the blending of science and art. Discussed in the lecture video, human dissection was a very frequent phenomenon going back to the era of  the ancient egyptian's that fused anatomy with artistry. Direction allowed for knowledge and understanding bone structure and anatomical makeups that dissectionists had to be aware of when making their artistic incisions. Medical technology has progressed and is used everyday across the world in ways like: x-Rays, MRI's, and CT scans. The increase of use and progress in medical technology was a direct result of the increases progress and understanding if the human body, which is a form of art. Niiler, Eric. "Mind-Controlled Prostheses Let Hands Feel Again : DNews." DNews. N.p., 8 Oct. 2014.  Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imag
Read more

Week 3: Art & Robots

Image
                    http://corporate.ford.com/innovation/100-years-moving-assembly-line.html In Lecture Professor Vesna discussed how robotics came about in relation to assembly lines. The car company Ford was first to use robotics in an assembly line to create  faster way to get car production done instead of human labor. Henry used the idea of an assembly line so that his workers could make more money and almost be turned into a middle class worker. But this created problems because with Taylorism, workers felt like they were being turned into machines and being treated like machines as well. So with this idea, people didnt know what to think of it because it had pros and cons. Next Professor Vesna discusses robots.  She discusses how the first robots we learn about are cyborgs and how many movies use cyborgs as in between humans and robots.                                    http://www.insidesources.com/i-robot-whats-next/ The first thing that came to mind when I though about
Read more