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Bio Art

Altered Realities

William Myers

£29.95
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The first authoritative guide to an emerging field of artistic practice at the boundary of art and science

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Overview

Bio Art responds to the new and often distorting realities revealed by the advance of the life sciences. This book traces the roots of bio art practice and explores this expanding field. Work is shown by more than sixty contemporary artists who blend techniques from the laboratory – such as tissue culturing and genetic engineering – with traditional art-making.

The results, both beautiful and alarming, offer new meanings for our lives in the wake of scientific discovery, and evoke an ominous future where human manipulation of the natural world has altered cultural norms.

The book probes the key areas in which biotechnology has had an impact on today’s world, from ecology and biomedicine to designer genomes and evolutionary theory, profiling works by artists, collectives and organizations from all over th world. Interviews with eight leading bio artists and technologists provide a deeper insight into the ideas and methods of this new breed of creative practitioner.

Bio Art will appeal to artists and scientists interested in cross-disciplinary practice, as well as critics, students and anyone with a fascination for the evolving cultural perception and representation of scientific change.

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Reviews

'A compelling contribution to the biotechnology conversation'
Science

'Myers shows how the work of bio artists offers a new framework for our lives in the wake of scientific discovery'
Vanity Fair

Related Topics

Contemporary Art Science

Further Details

Specifications

Format: PLC (no jacket)

Size: 25.5 x 21.0 cm

Extent: 256 pp

Illustrations: 300

Publication date: 12 October 2015

ISBN: 9780500239322

Contents List

Foreword by Suzanne Anker • Introduction: Bio Art and the Gnawing Invisible • I Altering Nature, Naturally • II Redefining Life • III Visualizing Scale and Scope • IV Experimental Identities and Media

About the Author

William Myers is a writer, curator and teacher based in Amsterdam. He has worked for The Museum of Modern Art, the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Guggenheim and Genspace, the first community biotech lab in the United States. His writing has appeared in Metropolis magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper and New York Magazine.