Week 6

In this weeks topic I learned about the collaboration between biotechnology and art. This type of art is interesting to me because artists will work with things such as living organisms, bacteria and live tissue. Rather than an artist going to an art studio to do their work they go to a laboratory.  While some artists feel that it is important to be in the laboratories working with the live tissue and cellular level directly to be justified to be called board, other artists believe the use of scientific imaging would constitute bioart as well. 

http://www.faseb.org/Portals/2/images/opa/BioArt/LinL.jpg

One of the first pioneers of bioart is Joe Davis. He has done extreme research in molecular biology and is known for having ideas that scientist considered crazy He had an idea that genes can be used for art so he tried to convince molecular biologists at Harvard and Berkley to teach him how to synthesize DNA and insert it genomes of living bacteria. Other experiments that he did include observing how ecoli respond to jazz music and how to produce sound waves stressful to bacteria. While many of us wonder why Artists like Joe Davis and Eduardo Kac do what they do, according to lecture their actions pose important questions about what is life and wha does it mean when we manipulate life. 

                                                                       http://lornalab.is/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/joedavis.jpg

There were two things that I found interesting in this weeks topic. The first thing was the manipulation of animals. Eduardo Kac created Alba the rabbit by inserting the GFP gene found in jellyfish to help them glow green when exposed to blue light. While this is super cool, Im not sure how healthy it is for the animals to be exposed to these types of things. This is also why bioart has created some controversy. The second thing I found interesting was Stelarc implanting a cell cultivated ear in his left arm. I find it super odd that he would do that because there really is no purpose for putting a third ear. After the completion of a third ear he made a statement on his website saying "I have always been intrigued about engineering a soft prosthesis using my own skin, as a permanent modification of the body architecture" 

Biotechnology art has been in the works for quite some time now however the difference between now and then is the scientific technology that is being used.While bioart is becoming more popular in the 21st century, many questions are being raised about its lack of ethics in todays society. Right now Im not really sure how I feel about it however I definitely find it a very interesting way 

creating art. 

http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/gnn_images/news_content/03_02/bunny_art/alba.jpg

Works Cited

"BioArt: Is It Art? Is It Science? Is It the Future?" Mashable. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://mashable.com/2013/10/29/cutpastegrow-bioart/>. 

"Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture." Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://www.viewingspace.com/genetics_culture/pages_genetics_culture/gc_w03/davis_joe.htm>. 

"Joe Davis: The Mad Scientist of MIT?" CultureLab:. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2012/03/the-mad-scientist-of-mit.html>. 

Miah, Andy. "Bioart Is Changing the World." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-miah/bioart-is-changing-the-wo_b_1133330.html>. 

"Stelarc // Ear on Arm." Stelarc // Ear on Arm. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://stelarc.org/?catID=20242>. 

"Transgenic Bunny by Eduardo Kac." Transgenic Bunny by Eduardo Kac. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2015. <http://www.genomenewsnetwork.org/articles/03_02/bunny_art.shtml>.