Week 4: Biotech + Art

After viewing the videos related to biotechnology and art, I found it intriguing how the combination of the two really pushes the individual’s imagination and thoughts on what is normal to the everyday life. An example that perfectly illustrates this statement is when scientists incorporated the jellyfish’s glowing gene into mice. Eventually, artists would further explore this new art form that has been created known as transgenic art. Professor Vesna mentions a glowing bunny named Alba in one of her videos, which is one of many examples that drew attention and controversy across all boards from the art to science to animal rights communities. There were several negative critiques about transgenic art being useless and abusive to animals from animal rights advocates.

Alba the glowing bunny 

When I did some of my own research on the blend between biotechnology and art, I cam across an interesting exhibit called “MEART – the Semi Living Artist.” In the project, the artist created two body parts. The first part was a brain made of brain cells from a fetal rat, and the second part was a robotic arm, which served as the body of the project. Essentially, the two parts are supposed to synchronize with one another to create some sort of drawing. The point of the exhibit was to take a deeper look into artificial intelligence and its potential for future technologies. I think there is merit to this work, but to a certain degree. I believe artificial intelligence can help the human race in making certain daily tasks a lot simpler. However, I also believe if artificial intelligence becomes too advanced, society will begin to value it more than human beings when performing certain assignments. There are even several movies that are out that illustrate super intelligent artificial intelligence taking control of the world away from the human race. The movie, Transcendence, is one movie that depicts the potential power of artificial intelligence. If artificial intelligence can be controlled and done under moderation, humanity and artificial intelligence can coexist.

Robotic Arm used for "MEART- Semi Living Artist"

Transcendence: Artificial Intelligence Movie

Sources

“Biotech Art – We Make Money Not Art.” We Make Money Not Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2016.

Delgado, Rick. "How Artists Are Blending Biotechnology And Art." MakeUseOf. MakeUseOf, 8 May 2015. Web. 17 July 2016. <http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/artists-blending-biotechnology-art/>.

Kac, Eduardo. "GFP BUNNY." GFP BUNNY. Kac Web, n.d. Web. 17 July 2016. <http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html>.

Miranda, Carolina A. "Weird Science: Biotechnology as Art Form." ARTnews. ARTnews Ltd., 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 July 2016. <http://www.artnews.com/2013/03/18/biotechnology-as-art-form/>.

Tegmark, Max. “Benefits & Risks of Artificial Intelligence – FLI – Future of Life Institute.” FLI Future of Life Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July 2016.

Images 

"Glowing Rabbit." Strange Science News. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July, 2016.

"Robotic Arm." Make: We Are All Makers. N.p., 11 Dec, 2016. Web. 17 July, 2016. 

"Transcendence." Forbes. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 July, 2016.