Bio Artists

Bio artists are trained to know how to work in areas on science where they can manipulate their “materials” to produce their work. They use this manipulation and the outcome as their creation like a painter would use paint to create a painting. The creations can be created either in a laboratory like scientists or in a studio like artists. It is said that “the term bio art is used for art by artists who work with the same living organic materials that scientists do: bacteria, cell lines, molecules, plants, body fluids and tissues, and even living animals” (McDaniel 245). Because of the way that these artists conduct their work, they can be considered more of scientists than artists. There is a thin line in their work on where they sit as artists and where they are as scientists; however they view their work as artistic expression and therefore are viewed in that way. However, because of the content, their findings and “pieces” can also be used within the scientific society. The bioartists have joined together two show off the artistic part of scientists, being that the bio artists all (for the most part) had science backgrounds before joining with the bio artists (BIOart). Being that bio art has become so known within the science world, the artists/scientists really do need to “acquire knowledge about a biotechnology, such as genetic engineering and cloning” which is why most bio artists were scientists before joining with the bio artists (McDaniel 245). With science becoming increasing more involved in our everyday life, and more and more accomplished (especially in the realms of biochemistry and genetics) it is no wonder that artists want to join in. They see the creation of the scientists as simply a mirror of their own work, except with a more scientific approach instead of an artistic one. All in all, there is a creator and a creation, and the artist is still a creator, and a curious one at that.

BIOart. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. https://bioart.med.harvard.edu/index.html.

"BioArt." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 24 Mar. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BioArt.

McDaniel, Craig, and Jean Robertson, eds. Themes of Contemporary Art: Visual Art after 1980. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2010. Print.