- Media
arts/genetics and art/ art and technology:
- Interest
in interactive art and its relationship to the emergent properties
of genetics. The idea that evolution, atoms or molecules can serve
as a "medium." "Some of the art I found wasn't biological
enough for my taste....I looked for ways to make molecules more
artistically interesting."- Jennifer Highsmith
- net
art about technology and control; about human similarity and lack
of a gene for race
- "Many
people consider the aesthetic values of the artworks to be most
important. However, in the case of the interactive arts, it is the
ability to be dynamic that makes it fascinating...[Art/Genetics]
Fundamentally, these two fields resemble each other because they
both will eventually raise more questions than answers. I think
this is also the reason that both fields were evolved from other
fields, and will evolve into other newer fields. ...Has the effort
to creating arts with more "life"set a more "audience-experience"oriented
direction for the field, or suggest that we struggle to satisfy
our own desires to be in control..." - Caleb Ho
- "The
florescent bunny is particularly interesting, and somewhat amusing....One
of my favorites was an invention that allowed a fish in a special
bowl to interact with its environment by its motions in the fishbowl."
-
Christine Altrock
- Thoughts
about the genome project:
- "the
beginning of something bigger than human beings can even imagine.
...I see in the future a race of ageless, raceless, people who might
never be able to experience the peace of death." - Daniel
Au
- Humanity's
general "fascination" with "the body" and how
we manipulate it, via plastic surgery, and now the potential of
genetic manipulation. The human body as a work of art that is "shaped
by genes."
- "The
genes in our bodies are really microscopic artists." - Brian
Mikolasko
- Gaining
awareness about both new possibilities and limitations of genetic
manipulation. "At first I thought that once the code was sequenced
humans would be able to do whatever they wanted and live forever
by preventing age and disease. However this is not the point. I
realize that there are many flaws and that they are not always easy
to fix." - Brian Mikolasko
- Genotype
Vs phenotype: I found it amazing that a thing called our genotype
determines our phenotype which is our outward appearance to the
world. The genes seem to me to be the designers of all life controlled
by their intricate mechanisms, yet influenced by the world around
them and life itself. - Brian Mikolasko
- The
genome project can't be done by one lab, or even one nation, it
is a collaborative international effort. The history of the project
also has relevance to its interpretation: "Of all agencies
or academic institutions, the DOE (fuel, new energies, nuclear technologies,
atom bombs) stumbled into the insight of making a record of the
bricks of life." - Dave Gerns
- The
treatment of genes as "good" or "bad" requires
a human interpretation of the impact of the gene on the organism.
This is the realm where genomic art can thrive, where it can explore
the intricacies of a genetic self-awareness, where it can play freely
with the boundless possibilities that such self-awareness brings."
- Calvin Jan
- Thoughts
about art/science:
- Ethics:
- Science
seems to be moving from what is seen as a "passive"
process of "discovery" to that of an "active"
process of manipulation due to the "promise" of genetic
technology to create new life forms.
- There
is a sense of danger, that humanity may not be "responsible"
enough to handle all that genetic technologies offer it the
ability to do.
- "Art
has yet another use though. It can be used to reflect and interpret
nature. In this way, art is completely parallel to science."
"Digital manipulation has become so accurate in representation
that, it can be used to trick people into thinking that it is real.
Modern movies are a perfect representation of this. Similarly, science
has created synthetic foods and animals out of a test tube."
- Christian Gove
- There
are resources for art/science collaboration on the net that you
had not imagined
- Links
between art and science and their historical separation:
- "Being
science-oriented all of my life....the most difficult for people
to accept is the 'creating' part." - Siavash Farshidpanah
- "To
think of drawing the human body is such a simple theory, yet
it didn't occur to me to link it to science but only continuously
tried to draw as perfect as possible, without knowing the human
body and how it functions. The reason why I became frustrated
became clearer to me....If we artists learn more about the functions,
elements and the construction of our body, it will make drawing/expressing
the human body more enjoyable as well as beautiful. ...I learned
the importance of science in art as well as the role it plays.
If the foundation of logic and intelligence is set, creativity
follows, creating an even more beautiful work of art."
- Irene Kang
- "Once
the knowledge of nature has been assimilated into our culture,
art may then humanize it. Here I define art as the human expression
of nature. ... Since art is founded in our understanding of
nature, it follows that an evolution in art may follow the growth
in genetics." - Calvin Jan
- "They
are in a sense a form of communication. The definition of art
reminds me of the concept of science." - Natalie Buu
- "Being
a science major, I believe that many things are related to science,
directly or indirectly. I am interested to hear others' opinions
concerning this relationship. -
- Christine Altrock
- Although
art, in its pure and defined form, cannot be counted as science,
the opposite is not necessarily so impossible.
In
many cases science can be seen as art, because along with proving
theories and making new discoveries, the work is able to demonstrate
a certain aesthetic that is pleasing to the eye.... Basically,
science can work as art, but art can work for science too, by
presenting its point of view on the direction of science, it
can actually shape how society view science and shape the future
of science. A lot of contemporary art comments on certain scientific
advances in genetics, cloning, mutation, etc., and disagrees
with the direction science is taking, ultimately influencing
society to take a stand against these advances, and instead
take a different approach." - Dan Riley
- "There
has always been a connection between physics, math, chemistry
and biology, but never with art. Aesthetics are a major part
of our culture, and if we can bring art into these fields, we
can increase the beauty in our society." - Stacy Hom
- Recurrent
themes: immortality, lack of a gene for race, designer bodies/babies,
are we ready for all this?, can we use this knowledge responsibly, privacy,
Leonardo da Vinci as the embodiment of art + science, surprised to learn
that the genome information is freely available,
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