Observations on an Art of Growing Interest

Hauser, Jens

doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262042499.003.0006

Cited by 24 publications

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“…They are also portions of the histories of bodies, wet labs, digital labs, science and art. Using established biotechnological processes as part of contemporary images and identity-making is part of an "aesthetic monoculture" [Hauser, 2008]. DNA portraits are a form of synecdoche, where parts of creative laboratory production represent much larger and more complex areas of progress and potentials.…”

Section: Dna Portraits and Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA portraits: celebrations of the technoself

Brierley¹

2015

JCOM

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The representation of self and the nature of our identities often converge through technological forms. This study investigates the promotional techniques of seven companies selling DNA portraits, the objective being to uncover how these images derived from laboratory processes are viewed as valid depictions of the self and scientific knowledge. DNA portraits are revealed as the intertwining of technology and identity through celebrations of the technoself.

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Section: Dna Portraits and Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

DNA portraits: celebrations of the technoself

Brierley¹

2015

JCOM

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Biokitsch in Art: And the Survival of the Prettiest

Beloff¹

2023

The Changing Meaning of Kitsch

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Living Machines: Metaphors We Live By

Vaage

2019

Nanoethics

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Within biology and in society, living creatures have long been described using metaphors of machinery and computation: 'bioengineering', 'genes as code' or 'biological chassis'. This paper builds on Lakoff and Johnson's (1980) argument that such language mechanisms shape how we understand the world. I argue that the living machines metaphor builds upon a certain perception of life entailing an idea of radical human control of the living world, looking back at the historical preconditions for this metaphor. I discuss how design is perceived to enable us to shape natural beings to our will, and consider ethical, epistemological and ontological implications of the prevalence of this metaphor, focusing on its use within synthetic biology. I argue that we urgently need counter-images to the dominant metaphor of living machines and its implied control and propose that artworks can provide such counterimages through upsetting the perception of life as controllable. This is argued through discussion of artworks by Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, by Tarsh Bates and by Ai Hasegawa, which in different ways challenge mechanistic assumptions through open-ended engagement with the strangeness and messiness of life.

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Observations on an Art of Growing Interest

Cited by 24 publications

References 0 publications

DNA portraits: celebrations of the technoself

DNA portraits: celebrations of the technoself

Biokitsch in Art: And the Survival of the Prettiest

Living Machines: Metaphors We Live By

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