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. 

I was particularly interested in this week’s topic because I am fascinated by medicine, and aspire to go to nursing school.  Therefore the topic this week was one that I could relate to.  In watching the lecture the first example that caught my attention was the discussion of the Body Worlds exhibition of the bodies on display after undergoing the plastination process.  The reason that this caught my attention is because it reminded me of one of the incidents that first sparked my interest in medicine.  When I was in high school I went to an exhibit in Sacramento, CA called Bodies Revealed, which is very similar to the Body Worlds exhibition discussed in lecture.  I feel that this is a great example of medicine and art, using real human bodies as both exhibitions for artistic and academic purposes.  This is one of my favorite displays from the exhibition, showing the circulatory system:

(http://www.premierexhibitions.com/exhibitions/14/14/bodies-revealed/gallery-bodies-revealed) 

(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ca/81/85/ca8185982ed7b42c562072e14384310a.jpg) 

As I touched upon in my first blog, art and medicine can be very powerful in conjunction.  There are studies related to nursing students benefitting from studying art, improving observation skills and helping medical professionals to avoid bias (DePaul University).  But even more so medicine and art working together can be very powerful.  The modern day Hippocratic Oath states, “I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug” (Tyson).  Art can be used in medicine to create useful, accurate and aesthetically pleasing diagrams such as below: 

(http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/SkeletonTypogram_AaronKuehn_A4.jpg)

(http://www.drawingonanatomy.com.au/galleryD/images/Drawingbow-2.jpg)

However there are some ethical issues related to the combination of art and medicine.  For example, the exhibits that I discussed above of the bodies that were on display were scrutinized for not having proper documentation of permission for the use of the bodies.  One of these organizations appeared to have legitimate permission, but the other did not (Ulaby).

Another example of art and medicine being taken to an extreme can be seen in plastic surgery.  In lecture we discussed a woman named Orlan who underwent very extreme plastic surgery as a display of art (“Orlan”).  Another extreme example of this is a man who underwent many surgeries to look like Superman. 

(http://www.creative-mapping.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Contoversial-Artist-Orlan-Operation-Omnipresence-interview-by-Creative-Mapping-1024x667.jpg)

Works Cited:

-DePaul University. "Art helps nursing, medical students strengthen observation skills." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 March 2015. Web. 23 April 2015. 

-“Man gets surgery to look like Superman.” Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 22 Oct. 2011. Web. 23 April 2015.

-“Orlan – Carnal Art (2001) Documentary.” Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 13 Mar. 2011. Web. 23 April 2015. 

-Tyson, Peter. “The Hippocratic Oath Today.” PBS. PBS, 27 Mar. 2001. Web. 23 April 2015.

-Ulaby, Neda. “Origins of Exhibited Cadavers Questioned.” NPR. NPR, 11 Aug. 2006. Web. 23 April. 2015.