Recently in 9/16 Category

     I am really interested in this piece of art work.  I like the fact that they made a nike shoe not only because it is my favorite kind of shoe but it reflects the country we live in.  This was not just an awesomely twisted project but it was a project that meant something as well.  It touches on the issue of manual labor overseas and reflects where our society is obliviously headed.  The difference in the size, shape, textures and colors (the white Nike logo draped over this shoe) reflect this issue.  I love the way this shoe was put together and the message it portrays.    

In my view, anything can be show in a way of art. Biology could not be an exception. Every tiny part of living being exists so many unimaginable beauty. Art can be found in a leaf, a flower, a piece of feather, a cell, a part of DNA, and sounds and odor and far more beyound our vision. On the other hand, study art in a biological way seems to be a new subjuct. What we used to learn, in class of field of art, such as painting and music, seems had nothing to do with nature. If you know something about philosophy, you must have heard of the word  " Material decides consciousnes." Different people may choose different from materialism and idealism, but I believe the words is true, which means, what we treat as art, what we created as art a all come from the material of nature. And life, undoubtly is the most wonderful thing of the world!


And by the way, sorry for post this make up assignment so late. The question about bioart was a little confused me... but hope I have already understand it better.

Artistically and scientifically, the Edunia is a beautiful feat.  It is an eerie depiction of the link between humans and other species, in this case plants.  I think that it ties the natural world together in a compelling, new manor.  It also makes for an interesting piece of art.  Art is all about symbols and the Edunia does just that.  It demands observation and afterthought.  A flower with veins and a skin tone definitely tells the viewer a story and sends a message.  Eduardo, a scientist, is also an artist.  The artist must be creative and bring something new to the table.  Eduardo created something new and thought provoking for people to analyze and maybe come to realize the interconnectedness and beauty in the world beyond what meets the eye. 

 Create a BioPortrait - a re-presentation of yourself - that communicates how you see yourself or how you would like to present yourself. It can be based in the present, past, future or a hybrid time zone that you imagine

This BioPortrait differs from a traditional self-portrait. It invites you to think about yourself from a biological perspective and to convey this in your portrait.

We have introduced Photoshop as one creative tool available for your use. If you choose to use an image editing software, consider the metaphors of the tool such as layers and filters. Imagine how you can use these as metaphors in the construction of your BioPortrait. Areca will be introducing some of her favorite Photoshop tools  on Wednesday 9/23.

It is your reflection upon yourself as a biological being that distinguishes this self portrait from other portraits. Although we are introducing digital images as a starting point you are free to use any artistic medium that you wish.

Email if you have any questions about your BioPortrait or want feedback on your idea.

We will present our BioPortraits in class on September 30th.

Remember to meet [face to face] with your BioPortrait partner to talk about your concepts and to share work in process.

A few examples of the ways that artist incorporate the idea of the biological in portraits.

Kip Fulbeck - Hapa Project


Amy Youngs - Micropropogation


Lynn Fellman - DNA portraits

I absolutely love this idea and see the artistic relevance within it.  I am shocked as to how he combined a passage from the bible, the language of war, and the contents of our DNA into one uniting project.  Seeing the bacteria with that specific sequence of DNA is amazing and how it represents a holy message is unreal.  This an outstandingly artistic project that deals with the fundamentals of biology.

When I initially learned that Eduardo Kac was able to produce a petunia plant that expressed his own gene for red-colored veins, I was a little grossed out. The red coloring of the veins brought to mind blood flowing through a flower, and something about that just doesn't seem right. As I read into the project, though, and thought more about it, I realized how amazing this project is.All of the work that goes into creating a plant like this is astounding. From drawing his own blood and isolating the gene, to placing it in the plant's DNA, so much knowledge is required.

A Response to Natural History of the Enigma

I think that the creation of a new species of plant for art is truly remarkable.  The incredible amount of time and effort that went into achieving the artist's vision blows me away.  The result of this effort is a striking pink flower with red veins.  The science behind this is amazing as well.  Twenty years ago, this would have been impossible.  The artist's message of how all forms of life are interconnected is presented in a new, fresh, and very real way.  Another aspect of this piece that I appreciate is the inclusion of seed packets.  These packets, though not strictly bio art, make the Edunia seem more accessible to people and less like a sterile experiment. 

Artistically, the Edunia is a beautiful representation of the bond shared by humans and plants. The link between plants and humans seems to be a small one, and I would have never thought that there was any possible way to bring the two entities together. However, the Edunia has shown me that the link is stronger than I thought.  Also, the Edunia shows the expression of human appreciation of nature through interacting with it from more than the surface.

            Biologically, its impressive how far science has come in being able to open more pathways to bring together many/more of our world's components. 

From a scientific perspective the Enigma project is unlike any other. The amount of work with the human genome and the work with the flower genome must have been so extensive it may just have bankrupted the "artist". I don't think anyone else on earth has attempted anything like it. At least for an artistic purpose that is. This man must have such a deep and profound respect and love for the artistic community. This is not a project that would be very valuable or profitable for the artist/scientist. But from a scientific perspective this project is a very complex one. The use of splicing his genes with one of a flower is both astounding and unbelievable. Even though this project deals a lot with art and the beauty of this flower, without the scientific and biological part this project is nothing. And that's why I chose to see this project from the scientific perspective. 

The moment I started reading this article, I was absolutely amazed, it reminded me of that old Goosebumps movie "Stay out of the basement", when the father of two children was a mad scientist who combined plant and human DNA and got a disastrous result. However this project did not have a similar results, it had a both beautiful and mindblowing result. Combing Human and plant DNA? That's an amazing thing to accomplish scientifically. From an art perspective its also very beautiful, combing two different life forms to create one. Like the article said, just the sight of this new life form inspires people from any culture and reminds everyone that two different things can unite to form something breathtaking. In addition, the article stated that the principle parts of humans and plants are the same, reminding us that even though people are very different, we also share commonalities which can bring us together. Although this project proves astounding, its also is quite alarming. Again, making a reference to the Goosebumps movie (I hope someone's seen it), it's a little frightening to think that we can combine different life forms to create new ones at will, hopefully nothing bad will come of it, but you never know, makes me a little nervous as to what we selfish humans might do with this information.