Bio art

In 1997, I introduced the concept and the phrase “bio art”, originally in relation to my artwork “Time Capsule” (1997) (Patricia Decia, “Artista põe a vida em risco” and “Bioarte,” Folha de São Paulo , October 10, 1997.). This work approached the problem of wet interfaces and human hosting of digital memory through the implantation of a microchip. The work consisted of a microchip implant, seven sepia-toned photographs, a live television broadcast, a webcast, interactive telerobotic webscanning of the implant, a remote database intervention, and additional display elements, including an X-ray of the implant. While “bio art” is applicable to a large gamut of in vivo works that employ biological media, made by myself and others, in 1998, I started to employ the more focused term “transgenic art” (Eduardo Kac. “Transgenic Art”, Leonardo Electronic Almanac 6, no. 11 (1998). Republished in Ars Electronica ‘99 — Life Science , ed. Gerfried Stocker and Christine Schopf (Vienna, New York: Springer, 1999), 289–296.) to describe a new art form based on the use of genetic engineering to create unique living beings. Art that manipulates or creates life must be pursued with great care, with acknowledgment of the complex issues it raises and, above all, with a commitment to respect, nurture, and love the life created. I have been creating and exhibiting a series of transgenic artworks since 1999. I have also been creating bio art that is not transgenic. The implications of this ongoing body of work have particular esthetic and social ramifications, crossing several disciplines and providing material for further reflection and dialog. What follows is an overview of theses works, the issues they evoke, and the debates they have elicited.