Skip to content
1981
  1. Home
  2. A-Z Publications
  3. Technoetic Arts
  4. Volume 18, Issue 2
  5. Article
Taboo–Transgression–Transcendence in Art & Science
  • ISSN: 1477-965X
  • E-ISSN: 1758-9533

Abstract

Cellular and sub-cellular material become creative medium across a range of disciplines that engage with biotechnology, from medicine to art practice. Historically, these practices complicated the boundaries of the body through patriarchal and colonial narratives of abstraction and extraction. In contrast to the ethical requirements of anonymity in medical research, this article suggests that material culture has a duty to know the body it works with. Three brief histories of bodily donation are recounted and aspects of these are contrasted with contemporary approaches to the use of bodily material within art practice. The developing project, , is offered as an example of performative practice that reintroduces a proximity to the body in biotechnological practices and begins to question whether through art practice, the biological body can move from commodity to be considered as a more-than-human resource.

© 2020 Intellect Ltd
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00038_1
2020-10-01
2024-09-10
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Alesi, Francesco, and Muzi, Luca. ( 2015;), ‘ Kidneys for sale: Iran’s trade in organs. ’, The Guardian, 10 May, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/may/10/kidneys-for-sale-organ-donation-iran. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Bennett, Jane. ( 2010), Vibrant Matter, Durham, NC and London:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Braidotti, Rosi. ( 2016;), ‘ Posthuman critical theory. ’, in D. Banerji, and M. R. Paranjape. (eds) Critical Posthumanism and Planetary Futures, New Delhi:: Springer;, pp. 13–32, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3637-5_2. Accessed 15 October 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Braidotti, Rosi. ( 2019;), ‘ Non-facist ethics: Learning to live and die as affirmation. ’, in M. Hlavajova, and M. Wietske. (eds), Propositions for Non-Facist Living: Tentative and Urgent, Utrecht:: BAK and MIT Press;, pp. 25–39.
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Burr Raty, Isabel. ( 2020), Beauty Kit, https://www.isabel-burr-raty.com/beauty-kit. Accessed 5 January 2021.
  6. Debatty, Regine. ( 2016;), ‘ Bodily matters: Human biomatter in art (Part 5: Working with HeLa cells, Microflora and other biomedical material). ’, We Make Money Not Art, 17 August, https://we-make-money-not-art.com/bodily-matters-human-biomatter-in-art-part-5-working-with-hela-cells-microflora-and-other-biomedical-material/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Haraway, Donna Jeanne. ( 2008), When Species Meet, Minneapolis, MN:: University of Minnesota Press;, http://projectlamar.com/media/harrawayspecies.pdf. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Haraway, Donna Jeanne. ( 2016), Staying with the Trouble, Durham, NC and London:: Duke University Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Human Cell Atlas Project ( 2020;), ‘ Human Cell Atlas: To create comprehensive reference maps of all human cells – the fundamental units of life – as a basis for both understanding human health and diagnosing, monitoring, and treating disease. ’, https://www.humancellatlas.org/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
  10. Human Tissue Authority ( 2020;), ‘ Human Tissue Act 2004. ’, https://www.hta.gov.uk/policies/human-tissue-act-2004. Accessed 5 January 2021.
  11. Kim, Sarah Y.. ( 2017;), ‘ “Henrietta Lacks” estate to sue Hopkins Hospital. ’, The Johns Hopkins NewsLetter, 2 March, https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2017/03/henrietta-lacks-estate-to-sue-hopkins-hospital/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Lapworth, Andrew. ( 2015;), ‘ Habit, art, and the plasticity of the subject: The ontogenetic shock of the bioart encounter. ’, Cultural Geographies, 22:1, https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474013491926. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  13. MacDonald, Helen. ( 2009;), ‘ Procuring corpses: The English anatomy inspectorate, 1842 to 1858. ’, Medical History, 53:3, p. 379, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300003987. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Mitchell, Robert. ( 2010), Bioart and the Vitality of Media, Seattle:: University of Washington Press;.
     [Google Scholar]
  15. NCRI ( 2019;), ‘ Exclusive: Selling body parts in Iran – An untold tragedy. ’, National Council of Resistance of Iran, Foreign Affairs Committee, 19 September, https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/selling-body-parts-a-tragedy-in-iran/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. North, Michael. (trans.) ( 2002;), ‘ Greek medicine: The hippocratic oath. ’, US National Library of Medicine, https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/greek/greek_oath.html. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Philp, Janet. ( 2018;), ‘ “Burke, now and then: YouTube”: Edinburgh: Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. ’, YouTube, 17 December, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suH4HIF5tKo. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Schubert, Theresa. ( 2020;), ‘ mEat me. ’, Theresa Schubert, https://www.theresaschubert.com/works/meat-me. Accessed 15 January 2022.
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Senior, Adele. ( 2011;), ‘ Haunted by Henrietta: The archive, immortality and the biological arts. ’, Contemporary Theatre Review, 21:4, pp. 511–29, https://doi.org/10.1080/10486801.2011.610306. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Simun, Miriam. ( 2011;), ‘ The Lady Cheese Shop by Miriam Simun, a human breast milk event at Michael Mut Project Space New York. ’, 28 April–1 May, http://michaelmut.com/mmprojectspace/sh_humanCheese.php. Accessed 5 January 2021.
  21. Skloot, Rebecca. ( 2011), The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, London:: Pan Books;.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Tapio, Hege. ( 2020;), ‘ Hege Tapio. ’, Hege Tapio, https://tapio.no/wp/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. The University of Edinburgh ( n.d.;), ‘ 5 things you didn’t know about Burke & Hare. ’, https://www.ed.ac.uk/medicine-vet-medicine/postgraduate/postgraduate-blog/things-you-didnt-know-burke-hare. Accessed 5 January 2021.
  24. Unterman, Phoebe, and Ryssdal, Kai. ( 2018;), ‘ Who owns Henrietta Lacks’s cells?. ’, Marketplace, 9 July, https://www.marketplace.org/2018/07/09/business/who-owns-henrietta-lacks-disembodied-cells/. Accessed 5 January 2021.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Mackenzie, Louise. ( [2020] 2022;), ‘ Offering the Body: Performing proximity in the use of cellular material. ’, Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research, 18:2&3, pp. 197–204, https://doi.org/10.1386/tear_00038_1
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00038_1
Loading
Offering the Body: Performing proximity in the use of cellular material
Technoetic Arts 18, 197 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1386/tear_00038_1
/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00038_1
/content/journals/10.1386/tear_00038_1
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): abstraction; bioart; bioeconomy; cellular material; commodification; donation

Most Cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error