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Authors: |
Kac, Eduardo. | |
Title: |
Transgenic Art | |
Keywords: |
art, biology, biotechnology, genetic engineering, genetics, transgenesis, green fluorescent protein, dialogical communication, interspecies communication, interactive art | |
| http://www.ekac.org/transgenic.html | ||
Abstract: |
This paper articulates the creative
use of genetics in art. Transgenic art, I propose, is a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering techniques to transfer synthetic genes to microorganisms or natural genetic material from one species into another, to create unique living organisms. Molecular genetics allows the artist to engineer the plant and animal genome and create new life forms. The nature of this new art is defined not only by the birth and growth of a new plant or animal but above all by the nature of the relationship between artist, public, and transgenic organism. Transgenic artworks can be taken home by the public to be grown in the backyard or raised as pets. There is no transgenic art without a firm commitment to and responsibility for the new life form thus created. Ethical concerns are paramount in any artwork, and they become more crucial than ever in the context of biological art, when a real living being is the artwork itself. From the perspective of interspecies communication, transgenic art calls for a dialogical relationship between artist, creature/artwork, and those who come in contact with it. The paper will present and discuss the author's practical and theoretical work in the field. |
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| Kac, Eduardo. ekac@artic.edu
Assistant Professor of Art and Technology Art and Technology Department The School of the
Art Institute of Chicago http://www.ekac.org. Eduardo Kac is an artist and writer who
works with electronic and photonic media, including telepresence, holography, computers,
video, robotics, and the Internet, as well as biological systems, such as animals,
plants,bacteria, and organic tissue. His work has been exhibited widely in the United
States, Europe, and South America, and is in several public andprivate collections. He is
a member of the editorial board of the journal Leonardo, published by MIT Press. In 1998
he received the Leonardo Award for Excellence. His anthology "New Media Poetry:
Poetic Innovation and New Technologies" was published in 1996 as a special issue of
the journal Visible Language, of which he was a guest editor. Writings by Kac on
electronic art as well as articles about his work have appeared in several books,
newspapers, magazines, and journals in many countries. The 90-page book "Teleporting
An Unknown State," published by Kibla, in Maribor, Slovenia (ISBN 961-6304-00-3)
documents Kac's work in telepresence, telematics, and biology. Eduardo Kac is a Ph.D.
research fellow at the Centre for Advanced Inquiry in Interactive Arts (CAiiA) at the
University of Wales, Newport, United Kingdom. He is an Assistant Professor of Art
andTechnology at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and has received numerous
grants and awards for his work.ekac@artic.edu. Assistant Professor of Art and Technology Art and Technology Department The School of the Art Institute of Chicago |
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