The topic for this week about the connection between art and biotechnology was unique and fascinating.  In particular I found learning about the audio microscope interesting.  The reason that I found this so interesting is because it is something that I have heard of before, but did not truly understand until learning more in depth about it this week in class.  The pioneer of this type of artwork was Joe Davis.  In one article Davis is described as, "either a genius or the most brilliant con artist that ever lived" (McKenna).  He literally gives a voice to bacteria through this project.  

(http://www.gizmag.com/argonne-microbial-music/24497/)

The uniqueness of Joe Davis and his artistic expression is explained in an article by in Scientific American.  This article vividly describes Joe Davis and his eclectic works.  This gave me an even better understanding of what Davis was trying to achieve, and more detail as to how he went about doing so.  Davis discusses how he can identify microorganisms based on their acoustic signatures, and wanted to continue his work to feel these microorganisms move (Gibbs).

However, in learning about bioart Professor Vesna raised the concern of ethical issues, which I feel is important and needs to be addressed.  I appreciate the art and work of Davis with microorganisms, but I do feel that this gets a little tricky when working with live creatures such as animals.  I do not agree with animal testing, and feel that it is not ethically right to use animals in this way for the sake of art.  I agree with Zurr and Catts in their article evaluating ethical concerns of bioart that we as humans have perceptions of being a "separated and privileged life form".

(https://www.tumblr.com/search/no%20more%20animal%20testing)

Just as there are ethical standards and regulations to be followed when testing for medical research there needs to be the same for artists using live organisms in their works.  We cannot have a "because I can" attitude towards this as Stracey would say.  We must take into consideration that bioartists are working with living creatures, and respect that.  

Works Cited:

- Gibbs, W. Wayt. "Art as a Form of Life." Scientific American. Scientific American. Web. 10 May 2015.  

-McKenna, Phil. "Joe Davis: The mad scientist of MIT?" Culture Lab. New Scientist, 23 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 May 2015. 
-Stracey, Frances. "Bio-art: the ethics behind the asthetics." Science and Society. Science and Society, July 2009. Web. 10 May 2015.  
-Zurr, Ionat and Oron Catts. "The ethical claims of Bio Art: killing the other or self-cannibalism?" The Tissue Culture and Art Project. The University of Western Australia. Web. 10 May 2015.