BioTech + Art

I would not be able to encapsulate this week’s topics and discussion points, about the intricate relationship between BioTech and Arts, without mentioning Ellen K. Levy. Through the reading of her work Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications, I was then able to access the weekly lectures with a different prospective. When it comes to the fusion between BioTech and Art, the understanding of the latter as a sort of panacea is, in my opinion, fundamental. Allow me to further explain myself. As Levy mentions “art, in its broadest sense, has always been a way to acclimatize the public to new scientific discoveries and new technologies”,  as a result it bridges the gap between the Two Cultures [2]. 

Adam Zarestky 

In the specific case of BioTech and Arts, this bridging action is carried out by what Eduardo Kac defines as “transgenic art”. Transgenic Art is a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering and biotechnologies to create unique living beings that constitute works of art [2]. Although I was initially really skeptical about the bio-art discourse, Adam Zalestky persuaded me to give a second chance to this field of arts by reinforcing the concept that the learning of biotechnologies is an artistic pursuit, because it displays aesthetic choices [3]. Zalestky is an artist for Symbiotica, a groundbreaking experimental group that was established in 2000 with the goal of contributing to the continuous evolution of bio-art. Similarly, Katy High, another artist who previously associated herself with Symbiotica, offers a different take on this topic. By founding the Vampire Study Group, an interdisciplinary conceptual art project, High presents a dystopic view of the future of human species, ultimately connecting her thesis with Steve Kurtz’s idea that the “human body is going to be obsolete” [4][5]. 

Transgenic Art - GFP Bunny

Personally I was blown away by this week’s topic. Digging deeper in the contents offered on Canvas I came across Mel Chin’s Revival Field project, and it struck me. The initial experiment, located at Pig’s Eye Landfill, a State Superfund site in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a replicated field test using special hyperaccumulator plants to extract heavy metals from contaminated soil. Scientific analysis of biomass samples from this field confirmed the potential of “Green Remediation” as an on-site, low-tech alternative to current costly and unsatisfactory remediation methods. Despite soil conditions adverse to metal uptake, a variety of Thlaspi, the test plant with the highest capacity for hyperaccumulation, was found to have significant concentration of cadmium in its leaves and stems [6]. This project not only has scientific and artistic value, but it also has a positive environmental effect, which might be the reason why I was fascinated by it. 

Mel Chin's Revival Field

Citations: 

[1] Levy, K. Ellen. Defining Life: Artists Challenge Conventional Classifications, Bristol and University of Chicago Press, 1-22, 2011. 

[2] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 1.” Biotechnology and Art. Biotechnology and Art, 3 May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.

[3] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 2.” Biotechnology and Art. Biotechnology and Art, 3 May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.

[4] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 3.” Biotechnology and Art. Biotechnology and Art, 3 May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.

[5] Vesna, Victoria. “Part 4.” Biotechnology and Art. Biotechnology and Art, 3 May 2022, Los Angeles, UCLA.

[6] Chin, Mel. Revival Field Project. 1991 - ongoing. http://melchin.org/oeuvre/revival-field/