Week 6: Biotechnology + Art

This week the professor talked about the overlap of bio-tech and art. At first, I thought the topic might be similar to what we discussed in the last lecture (med-tech + art). In fact, biotechnology and art had a more profound application, not just limited to the medical field.

The combination of biotechnology and art requires scientists to work together with artists and the collaboration alone brings benefits. For example, New-media art, a genre of interdisciplinary practices, employs various techniques and scientific methodologies and allows scientists to recontextualize their experiments within the context of the humanities and social sciences to promote a better public understanding of the sciences (Ahmedien). Enhanced understanding sheds light on broader topics like individual’s natural well-being, conservation of environmental heritage, and human comradeship and welfare (DaSilva).  


Since the early 1990s, one of the trends in contemporary art has been the intertwining of visual arts with lab-based science (Simoniti 222). One famous piece is by Stelarc, a performance artist, whose ear was first constructed using a frame made out of biocompatible material and transplanted into his arm. The ear is now a living, feeling, functioning part of his body (McCafferty). 

Picture 1: The Man with an ear on his arm (Steven Jones)


Transgenic organism is another heated topic when it comes to the overlap of biotechnology and art. The pictures below are Eduardo Kac’s most reputable works, “Genesis” and “Alba the GFP Bunny”. For “Genesis”, he inserted genes obtained from custom gene sequencing into E. coli, cultured the bacteria and placed the petri dish in a UV-lit box for online viewers who activate the light and observe genesis via webcam (Bancroft). In the “GFP Bunney, Alba”, he inserted the green fluorescent protein gene (GFP) from the jellyfish into a white rabbit egg and the transgenic rabbit glowed in the dark (Bancroft). 


Picture 2 and 3: The ‘Genesis’ Exhibition in 1999 (Kac); The GFP Bunny, Alba (Kac)


Works Cited: 

Ahmedien, Diaa. “SDGs in New-Media Arts for Science How Do New-Media Arts Promote Biotech as Means for Sustainable Development?” EMBO Reports, vol. 23, no. 10, 2022, https://doi.org/10.15252/embr.202255594.

Bancroft, D. (2022, June 21). Faces of bioart: Eduardo Kac and his transgenic organisms. Labiotech.eu. https://www.labiotech.eu/trends-news/bioart-in-person-eduardo-kac-transgenic-art/ 

DaSilva, Edgar. “Art, Biotechnology and the Culture of Peace.” Electronic Journal of Biotechnology, vol. 7, no. 2, 2004, pp. 130–66, https://doi.org/10.2225/vol7-issue2-fulltext-8.

Jones, Steve. “The Man with an ear on his arm.” Photograph. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/stelarc-ear-arm-art/index.html, August 13, 2015.

Kac, Eduardo. “The ‘Genesis’ Exhibition in 1999.” Photograph. Labiotech.eu. https://www.labiotech.eu/trends-news/bioart-in-person-eduardo-kac-transgenic-art/ 
June 21, 2022. 

Kac, Eduardo. “The GFP Bunny, Alba (2000).” Photograph. Labiotech.eu. https://www.labiotech.eu/trends-news/bioart-in-person-eduardo-kac-transgenic-art/ 
June 21, 2022. 

McCafferty, G. (2015, August 13). The man with an ear on his arm. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/style/article/stelarc-ear-arm-art/index.html 

Simoniti, Vid. “Art and Biotechnology: On the Limits and Potential of Interdisciplinary Arts.” Art and Knowledge after 1900: Interactions between Modern Art and Thought, edited by JAMES FOX and VID SIMONITI, Manchester University Press, 2023, pp. 222–44. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/jj.9596429.17. Accessed 11 May 2024.

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