Unit 6: BioTech + Art
As both fields
of art and biotechnology continue to grow and advance, we as humans begin to
transcend what was once considered impossible. Parts 2 and 3 of this week's lecture, along with some of the work done by Joe Davis, reminded me of a movie I
saw over 10 years ago called Gattaca.
Gattaca
This Sci-Fi film
presents a futuristic society where children are made through genetic
modification in a lab to ensure the most desirable genes will be inherited,
instead of the traditional way of having sex and leaving the rest to chance. This film is an artistic expression is an example of selective breeding through the use of biotechnology.
An example of genetic inheritance
We now live in
such a modernist world where technology can mimic reality or even feel more
real than reality, and this power is now tying into the arts and biotechnology.
I think life itself is a valid expressive medium, but I think we are now able
to control so many more aspects of life that people are using this control to
take artistic expression to new forms. Some of these modern forms are artistic, entertaining and
beneficial but others like animal testing seem to be radical, unhealthy and unethical. I think the
line between biotechnology and art is becoming blurrier as they influence one
another. Victorian Gentlemen’s article demonstrates how with the presence of
the modern world’s accessible technologies, biologist outlaws are growing in
popularity. When we are able to easily control things, especially genetics, I
fear for the future of the human population.
A photo of a potential future that frightens me
Works Cited
Agar, Nicholas. “Designer
Babies: Ethical Considerations.”ActionBioscience. N.p.. Web. 5 Nov 2012.
<http://www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/agar.html>.
Davis, Joe. "Genesthetics:
Molecular Biology and Microbiology in the Arts." Genetics and
Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016.
Kelty, C. M. (2010). Outlaw,
hackers, victorian amateurs: diagnosing public participation in the life
sciences today. Jcom, 9(1), 1-8.
Outlaws Symposium,
"Meanings of Participation:Outlaw Biology? Outlaws, Hackers, Victorian
Gentlemen." 1-8. Print.
Vesna, Victoria. Lecture. DESMA 9.
Web. 6 May 2012.
Pictures
"Everyday Scientist." »
RC Humans. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016.
"Gattaca: Humanizing
Research and Evolving." Splice. N.p., 28 July 2015. Web. 09
May 2016.
"Musings of a
Palaeolinguist." : Genetics and the Last Human Common Ancestor.
N.p., n.d. Web. 09 May 2016.
Hey there Jake, I too find animal testing to be radical and was shocked to read about the GFP bunny in this week's material! As we become able to manipulate genetic makeup, artists are assuming they in turn have creative freedom to use organism alteration as a channel of expression. All very intense and scary stuff! Anyways, wheels up!
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