Ethical Concerns with BioArt

What is bioart? Can you imagine making an art work by using an alive organism? Bioart is a modern art form that uses scientific methods and biotechnology to explore living systems as artistic subjects. It is a new genre that combines biology and art.

Then How did the bioart started? Eduardo Kac from Brazil was the one who started to spread out bioart. In 1936, by displaying his alive larkspur in a New York modern museum people could experience what bioart is. And there is one other experience that made people amazed at that time. In the 21st century, kac showed transgenic art. He put the genes that are from jellyfish to a bunny to make the bunny shiny in the dark. It's called “GFP bunny”. It pulled a lot of people’s attention. He also tried this genetic transition to a planet. He put his genes in a cactus. And surprisingly, he made the thorn grow like a human's hair. In addition, he introduced bioart to the world through many other experiments.

Not only transgenic but also Tissue engineering can be a part of bioart. The most well known of tissue engineering is stelarc’s performance. It shows that “the human body is obsolete”. Surprisingly What he did to prove this was to implant an artificial ear on his arm. After this amazing experiment, he got a lot of attention from the world, but he had a hard time from inflammation. He revealed that the reason for doing experimental art at the risk of serious side effects or physical difficulties lies in making art interesting through surprise.

Now I want to talk about the ethical concerns that bioart comes with. Some people believe that bioart is an art. And Some people believe it’s just called art. Doesn’t mean that it is actually an art. It violates the range of an art. Bioart actually causes a lot of ethical problems between this modern society. Those views of people who think it isn’t ethical claim that it cannot be justified if you kill an experimental rat or sacrifice oneself just to create an “artwork”.

The boundaries of bioart extend and fade. If you want to know whether bioart is humane or not, you should ask yourself a question first. “ What is normal?” People have their own perspectives, their own boundaries and definitions. But did we make a specific society promise of being “normal”? Some people might think it is normal to have 6 fingers and some people wouldn’t think that having 6 fingers isn't a normal thing for humans. If I want my child to get blue eyes and blue skin. And 10 legs. Is it not normal? Is it not humane? Am I violating the range of “ethics”? My child isn’t a human if he has 10 legs and has blue skin? Obviously, a lot of answers will exist. Of course People think differently because we are different. And that doesn’t mean that we are not normal. or it could mean that we are not normal. Maybe it can’t be normal if it is different from oneself, then no one actually can be normal because no one in the world is exactly the same as a person. Bioart may have been made by different us, or us who are not “normal”.