TRANSFORMATIONS Journal of Media & Culture

In her introductory text for Artlink's September 2014 issue on "Life in the Anthroposcene," Suzanne Anker notes three main trends in the field of bio art: 1) "imagery garnered through methods such as MRI, atomic force microscopy, electrophoresis, gene sequencing and PCR technologies [involving images of] chromosomes, body scans, genotypic and phenotypic variations and laboratory-fabricated animals" in traditional art making contexts such as painting, sculpture, film, photography or video art; 2) "the incorporation of 3D computer modelling software, artificial life, robotics, biodegradable scaffolding and an interest in new media installations, rapid prototype sculpture and algorithmic codes"; and 3) "the inclusion of wet laboratory practices such as tissue engineering, the cloning of animal and plant cells, transgenic microorganisms and ecological investigations" in which artists "employ living matter as their medium" (14). In what follows, I will examine four examples of the two last category of art works – works that employ living matter as their primary medium or present prototypical models for future life forms – in order to demonstrate the means by which bio art, as the mode of art that incorporates biotechnological science and engineering into its mode of operation, raises ethical/political concerns as to the implications and the effects of these scientific and engineering practices, before opening onto an ontological terrain in which the relations between art, science and the real come under scrutiny.