I believe that everything in nature - from us humans, to plants and trees, and to animals - all have souls and each should be treated with equal respect and love. Altering and modifying living systems can get tricky and ethical lines are crossed all the time. Don't do to animals what you wouldn't want done to yourself is how I've always lived my life. However, in this case, I am not biased and rather have opened my mind to thinking from a different perspective: the perspective of a lover of both science and art and a those who perform on animals what they would in fact actually perform on themselves - for the expansion and knowledge pertaining to BioArt.
I found true appreciation for this topic not in info-genes, zygote microinjections, or SYMBIOTICA; rather in the evolutionary, painless, and least unethical "performances" of BioArt. Firstly, The Primo Posthuman, a project proposing the future of the human body by Transhumanist Natasha Vita More, stood out to me because of its purpose and intentions behind the design. Concerned with human lifespan, health, and the prevention of disease, this Primo Posthuman will overcome disease and aging - adding years of life to the average person.
The next artist to resonate with me was horticulturist Edward Steichen and how he bred different types of delphiniums by hybridizing them. Plant modification using biotechnology is a great way to combine science with art. The delphiniums he bred were beautiful and a perfect example of how the love of nature can draw artists towards the science fields to create their art.
Next we have Natalie Jeremijenko, another nature lover and the director of xDesign Environmental Health Clinic at NYU - a creative health clinic for the environment. Her projects are all directed towards greenery and adding more greenery to places lacking in that color but what stands her apart from the ordinary gardener is that she adds greenery in unconventional ways only made possible using biotechnology. One project that stood out to be was an installation called Tree Logic where she suspended six sugar maple trees upside down forcing the trees to grow in reverse to their natural growth.
Lastly, we have Gary Wenk, a specialists on the effects that drugs have on your brain author of Your Brain on Food: How Chemicals Control Your Thoughts and Feelings. Our brain needs certain chemicals and nutrients from foods to stay balanced and keep us focused and using neuroscience has allowed us to understand which chemicals effect our brains and in which ways. The concept of turning a bad day into a better one just by eating certain foods is wild and pretty awesome if you ask me. I personally always turn to holistic and herbal forms of nutrition and medication rather than over the counter drugs to make me feel better and now knowing that neuroscience is behind these claims as well only reaffirms my choices and practices.
Sources:
Berkowitz, Bonnie, and Laura Stanton. "Is Your Brain Missing Something?" Washington Post. The Washington Post, 5 Jan. 2015. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/health/is-your-brain-missing-something/>.
Hartmann, Celia. "EDWARD STEICHEN ARCHIVE: DELPHINIUMS BLUE (AND WHITE AND PINK, TOO)." InsideOut. MoMA, 8 Mar. 2011. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2011/03/08/edward-steichen-archive-delphiniums-blue-and-white-and-pink-too>.
More, Natasha Vita. "Primo Posthuman Future Body Design." Primo Posthuman Future Body Design. Apr. 2004. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.natasha.cc/paper.htm>.
"Natalie Jeremijenko." Natalie Jeremijenko. Inspiration Green. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://www.inspirationgreen.com/natalie-jeremijenko.html>.
Wenk, Gary. "This Is Your Brain on Food." This Is Your Brain on Food § SEEDMAGAZINE.COM. SEED MAGAZINE, 13 Sept. 2010. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://seedmagazine.com/content/article/this_is_your_brain_on_food/>.
Yetison, Ali K., Joe Davis, George M. Church, Ahmet F. Coskun, and Seok Hyun Yun. "BioArt." Trends in BioTechnology. Cell.com, Dec. 2015. Web. 8 May 2016.
Person, and George Dvorsky. "7 Bio-Artists Who Are Transforming the Fabric of Life Itself." Io9. 24 June 2013. Web. 08 May 2016. <http://io9.gizmodo.com/7-bio-artists-who-are-transforming-the-fabric-of-life-i-558156053>.
I liked how you talked about how this process of bioart is unethical, yet you support it because it is done in the most painless way and is experimented with not only animals but humans as well. These were very important and interesting points that you made and I really enjoyed the examples.
ReplyDeleteI agree that bioart presents some interesting ethical questions and appreciated you mentioning that. I was also really struck by the work of Edward Steichen. I think because his medium is flowers rather than human or animal cells I don't find it as potentially questionable - it's friendlier, more approachable because flowers are beautiful and nonsentient.
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