Of Superbugs and Bioart

 

The Infamous "Harlequin Coat"

Steichen's unique horticulture of delphiniums

Art, like life on this planet, appears to grow over time, adapting to the shifting opinions of the populace. Much like this growth of art, life itself adapts to the environment and populations evolve. The use of transgenics, mutations, recombinance and selective breeding act as a symbol for the development of the world itself. Orlan, for example, created the infamous “Harlequin Coat” to symbolize the unification of different races (Still Living, Symbiotica). Steichen and Gessert also bred flowers to generate their unique hybrid species (InsideOut), representative of the respective artists’ nature. Symbiotica itself is a representation of what they strive to achieve: a combination of different worlds to create something potentially amazing (Symbiotica). 

While we often separate art and technology in our minds, it appears that the two are always inexplicably linked. New technology always inspires the potential for new art based on those technologies. As opposed to other technologies, which are often viewed with seriousness and understanding for its potential to save lives, artistic technology is often seen as a joke. Even the professor mentions that scientists see Davis’s work in the artistic integration into the genome to be plain silly, regardless of his multiple art pieces such as the microvenus. Personally, I believe that, unless artists are trained properly to handle intensively dangerous bioorganisms, biotechnology restrictions should be more stringent towards artists. Kurtz, for example, should not have been culturing cells in a house, of all locations (New York Times). 

A "superbug" has the potential to resist antibiotic medication

Various types of cell growth techniques are reliant on utilizing antibiotic resistances, and mishandling of these techniques can result in the development of the feared “superbug,” resistant to nearly every type of antibiotic (Miller) and, as a result, potentially able to destroy human life faster than we are already destroying ourselves.

Sources:

"Charge Dropped Against Artist in Terror Case." The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Apr. 2008. Web. 11 May 2015.

"EDWARD STEICHEN ARCHIVE: DELPHINIUMS BLUE (AND WHITE AND PINK, TOO)." InsideOut. Web. 11 May 2015.

Miller, Kelli. "Superbugs: What They Are and How You Get Them." WebMD. WebMD. Web. 11 May 2015.

"Still, Living." Symbiotica. Web. 11 May 2015.

"SymbioticA." : : The University of Western Australia. Web. 11 May 2015.