The study of Biotechnology has given humanity a ton of things to help educate and advance our society, especially with food and health. Except there has been mixed emotions whether or not Biotechnology and Art should be intertwined. Scientist believe that the exploitation of life is necessary for a greater good. However, when thinking about it in a way an artist might, it would make for a great debate.
The Characteristics of an artist is making something that is unique, appealing, and sometimes controversial. I do not think that changing life for the main purpose of creating art has any justification. Plastic surgery falls in this category for me. However, if it is completely obvious that it will have a positive outcome then of course do it. In Eduardo Kac's experiment, where he focused on creating a fluorescent bunny. While the human creativity is very harmless to perform these acts on a bunny but this may lead to trying it on a human being. It comes off as something that may go wrong in the future and that is why the combination of Biotechnology and Art does not seem right.
My favorite part of the material this week was the ethically sound region of Biotechnology and Art. Joe Davis came up with the "Audio Microscope" which "allows the user to image particular living cells while simultaneously listening to their greatly amplified - and species-specific - micro-acoustic signatures"(Davis). This is completely harmless and is yet very interesting. This device and piece of art does not cross any questionable and ethical lines. The art is quite beautiful.
Biotech is included in agriculture as well and if we ever have a zombie apocalypse and have a shortish of food then it might as well save our lives. Across the world we are using genetically modified organisms (GMO'S) in our foods and it has been very successful. While the topic of GMO's have been widely debated over the years it would in fact come in handy if there was a food shortage. We may be able to relay on these "GMO's because producing would become more sufficient. Many U.S. farmers are adapting "GM crops-GM corn" due to the fact that its a much easier way for farmers to produce in different types of weather and would in fact help revenue.
Davis, Joe. "Audio Microscope." Viewingspace.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.viewingspace.com/genetics_culture/pages_genetics_culture/gc_w03/davis_audio_scope.htm>.
Weinberg, Hal. "Biotechnology, Ethics and the Future."Humanistperspectives.org. Humanist Perspectives. Web. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.humanistperspectives.org/issue151/biotechnology_ethics.html>.
Kac, Eduardo. "GFP Bunny." Ekac.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2013. <http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html>.
Siyonbola. "GMO FOODS." Web. 31. Aug 2012.http://chelumumba.wordpress.com/2012/08/31/top-10-gmo-foods/
Vesna, Victoria. "5 BioArt Pt 1-5." YouTube. YouTube, 17 May 2012. Web. 10 Nov. 2013.
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