week 6

There is much debate surrounding the use of animals for art, and some say that there should be a limit on human creativity. While I agree with this, one must also acknowledge the great advances that have been made in science with the experimentation with animals and DNA.

Joe Davis is an artists and a pioneer of bioart. His idea was to synthesize DNA and insert it into genomes.

Joe Davis 

 Scientists at MIT thought that his ideas were dangerous and crazy. Yet, Davis managed to become a research affiliate at MIT and carry out some of his projects. I found the audio microscope his most interesting piece of art.

Audio microscope

 You can image cells while listening to their unique amplified sounds. Zaretsky is another artist in the field of bioart. He started under Davis at MIT.

Zaretsky

SymbioticA is an institution in Australia that experiments with genomes and provides a place for researchers and artists to collaborate. Artists like Kathy High and Orlan have worked at this institution. I found it interesting that Orlan is a part of this field as well as the section of anatomy and art. One project by SymbioticA is titled Fish and Chips. A robotic arm is run by the activity of goldfish neurons and the arm creates drawings.

"Fish and Chips" artwork

Steichen's delphiniums

I found the artwork from the goldfish neurons very interesting and fascinating. The fact that such tiny objects – the neurons of goldfish – could create art is mind-blowing. I also enjoyed Edward Steichen's work with delphiniums. 

Works Cited

"Delphinium, Delphinium and More Delphinium––Edward Steichen, Karl Foerster and Their Obsession with Blue. About the Conceptual Art of Ornamental Plant Breeding. by Hannah Stippl." Delphinium, Delphinium and More Delphinium––Edward Steichen, Karl Foerster and Their Obsession with Blue. About the Conceptual Art of Ornamental Plant Breeding. by Hannah Stippl. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. 

"Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture." Joe Davis: Genetics and Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2015. 

Plohman, Angela. "Adam Zaretsky." (biography). N.p., 2001. Web. 10 May 2015. 

SymbioticA. "SymbioticA." : : The University of Western Australia. SymbioticA, 13 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 May 2015. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Biotechnology and Art." Biotechnology and Art. UCLA, Los Angeles. 10 May 2015. Lecture.