Week 6: BioTech + Art

  This week Professor Vesna introduced to us a new genre of art that involves the uses of biological technologies, which I find fascinating. Artists across history have used almost every kind of material they could find to illustrate their artistic ideals. Biological materials and technologies, on the other hand, is and will always remain special and controversial because of their inclusion of living things and even human bodies. Of all works demonstrated this week, ORLAN's Harlequin coat impressed me the most. The use of skin cells of different colors reflex the multiculturalism theme very well.

  Due to the special nature of biological art, it has to be restricted and evaluated differently from other forms of art because of ethical reasons. Deliberate harms to animals and people should be prohibited. Kathy High's Embracing Animals project is a very good example which values the lives of animals.

  I believe life itself is meant to be a form of expression. Nature formed each one of us to be different because of a reason. Many people argue that transgenics are "unnatural" and will lead to catastrophic consequences. But I feel that genetics, like other sciences, can be properly studied and then applied to create significant contributions. When surgeries are first conducted, there were many opposing voices too. However, the development of surgeries ends up saving so many lives. 

  I do believe that techniques like transgenics have to be throughly studied and managed before developing their practical uses. Decades ago scientists developed genetically modified food that were effective in combating with pests. However after the application, many harmful effects have shown to deteriorate people's health and even cause permanent birth defects. 

Sources

High, Kathy. 'Embracinganimal.Com'. Embracinganimal.com. Web. 12 May 2015 . <http://www.embracinganimal.com/index.html>.

Mercola, Joseph. 'GM Foods: The Shocking Cause Of Birth Defects'. Mercola.com. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 May 2015 . <http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/05/13/ge-food-cause-birth-defects.aspx>.

Vesna, Victoria. '5 Bioart Pt1 1280X720'. YouTube. N.p., 2013. Web. 12 May 2015 . <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaThVnA1kyg>.

Vesna, Victoria. '5 Bioart Pt3'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 May 2015 . <https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL9DBF43664EAC8BC7&v=3EpD3np1S2g#t=15>.

Vesna, Victoria. '5 Bioart Pt4'. YouTube. N.p., 2012. Web. 12 May 2015 . <https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL9DBF43664EAC8BC7&v=2qSc72u9KhI#t=115>.

YouTube,. 'ORLAN: The Harlequin's Coat'. N.p., 2008. Web. 12 May 2015 . <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v4miEBFXTY>.

Images Used

Keenan, Robert J., and Willem P.C. Stemmer. Transgenic. 2002. Web. 12 May 2015 . <http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v20/n3/images/nbt0302-215-F1.gif>.

Rat Detail. 2009. Web. 12 May 2015 . <http://filter.anat.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/rat_detail.jpg>.

Skin's Diamonds And Extracted Cells. 2010. Web. 12 May 2015 . <http://images.vogue.it/imgs/galleries/peole-are-talking-about/zoom/003999/orlan-skin-s-diamonds-and-extracted-cells-while-2056777_0x440.jpg>.