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These questions are what have floated through my mind as I have studied this weeks material especially in looking at Orlan both in the Harlequin Coat as well as works of hers in the past in performance surgery. I was also intrigued by Kac's creation of the GFP Bunny and the meaning he ascribes to it as an artistic symbol. Orlan's work piqued my interest when we looked at her body transformations in week 4. Initially I couldn't wrap my head around the need to use body modification in art but her commentary on the social perception of beauty is interesting in terms of what we accept and admire in the physical sense. Her Harlequin Coat continues this set of ideas in a different direction through looking at race and social relations in a way that I think perfectly combines art, meaning, and science. What really makes me accept her approach is most of her experimentation and creation is performed on her own body, that choice makes her art more genuine to me than others who create using animals for the sake of art.
Eduardo Kac to me takes art a step too far by taking an established and proven scientific discovery and replicating it for the sake of art. I can see the value of animal alterations in learning and understanding within the realm of scientific discovery but in art this seems to me like an unnecessary line to cross. There is a limit in my eyes to where creativity should be limited when experimentation on live animals is the outcome. Artistic meaning and messages have inherent value, however this doesn't merit limitless experimentation.
Works Cited
"French Artist Orlan: 'Narcissism Is Important'" YouTube. The Guardian, n.d. Web. May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ1Ph-Pprj4>.
Kac, Eduardo. "GFP BUNNY." GFP BUNNY. N.p., n.d. Web. May 2015.
"ORLAN Harlequin Coat." Still, Living. SymbioticA, n.d. Web. 10 May 2015.
"ORLAN: The Harlequin's Coat." YouTube. VIS Online, n.d. Web. May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3v4miEBFXTY>.
I really appreciate your perspective on the power of artists with biotechnology and their responsibility towards life that they hold when working on any of their pieces involving living media. The GFP Bunny really puts this question to the test, as you stated the procedure was already well-known and the outcome of the event was not just a "piece of art" but an animal. I think that having the discussion on the ethical debates on using living media as an artform also mirrors the debate of using living media as a means to progress the field of biotechnology as a whole. The "art" or "experiment" has no say on whether the work performed on them was novel or helpful to others, but simply is a part of the procedure, but I agree that playing in the field of biotechnology too often can lead to irresponsibility.
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