At the Intersection of Art and Science

A surface level description of Bioteknica could label it as a pair of artists traveling around clad in lab coats, playing with tumours, turning laboratory leftovers (animal bi-products not used by in formal science experiments) and other forms of meat into sculptures, and producing videos, web programs and art installations related to their work (most recently at Vancouverí¢â‚¬â„¢s New Forms Festival). Put another, perhaps more accurate way, you could call it a well-rehearsed, thoroughly researched, multi-pronged critique of the dangers lurking in the products and practices of the biotechnology industry. Whatever its true definition, Bioteknica is an ingenious vehicle for public awareness regarding the often hidden world of biotechnology.

Underlying the project is a lingering apprehension from its founders - Jennifer Willet and Shawn Bailey - that the biotechnology industry harbours goals and practices that pose serious threats to life as we know it.

í¢â‚¬Å“One of our fundamental arguments of the entire work, as an overarching theme, is that you caní¢â‚¬â„¢t actually own the body, and [furthermore] weí¢â‚¬â„¢re not sure that is ethical, or even possible on a philosophical level,í¢â‚¬  explains Jennifer Willet, concerned that such inroads are already being made, despite her concerns. í¢â‚¬Å“The biotech industry is like a colonialist invasion, ití¢â‚¬â„¢s like what happened to Africa. Companies are slowly buying up bits and pieces of your DNA strand, of your body, of access to your body, without any of your prior knowledge.í¢â‚¬  Genes are patented, treatments are owned by corporations: chromosome by genome by DNA strand, our bodies are becoming means to financial ends for companies who have no real accountability beyond their shareholders.

While the public remains fascinated with the idea of biotech, and the benefits itpropagates through its glossy, attractive, flawless presentation. This, asserts the Bioteknica project, does the reality of the industry an injustice.

í¢â‚¬Å“What we saw on CNN and in the papers was distinctly different then what we were reading in the scientific journals,í¢â‚¬  says Willet.

She continues: í¢â‚¬Å“When [our society] describes biotechnology in movies and in the media, we use digital metaphors. Thereí¢â‚¬â„¢s this whole idea of programming the body, downloading the brain. Insert, extract, copy, pasteí¢â‚¬ ¦that is [really just] bioinformatics. That is a very small part of biotechnology in general. [Biotechnology] is not programming computers: ití¢â‚¬â„¢s cutting animals open; ití¢â‚¬â„¢s injecting them with hormones so that they produce more eggs; ití¢â‚¬â„¢s taking fetuses out and injecting them into other animals í¢â‚¬“ this is a really nasty, messy sort of thing. And I think that it is unethical that this aspect is not better represented in the public sphere."

The response of this pair of artists í¢â‚¬“ an assistant professor of Studio Arts and an associate professor of Studio Arts, respectively, at Montrealí¢â‚¬â„¢s Concordia University í¢â‚¬“ has been to engage in a subversive attack on an industry they contend to be unethical and unsustainable.

Bioteknica has emerged as an artistic endeavor cloaked in scientific garb. Despite having no formal scientific background, Willet and Bailey routinely show up to scientific discussions, presentations and installations, dressed in lab coats and carrying an impressive array of specialized equipment, all the while speaking with carefully constructed diction - all part of their well-groomed í¢â‚¬Å“performative strategy.í¢â‚¬ 

Though adamant about the fact that they are not scientists, both have acquired a number of skills along the way usually reserved for the scientific community. But although they have picked up a few tools of the scientific trade, their goals and objectives remain decidedly different.í¢â‚¬ 

í¢â‚¬Å“Weí¢â‚¬â„¢re certainly experimenting with something, but not in the rational, logical organized sense. Our experiments are seeking out randomness, mistakes, messiness and all of those things that art has to offer,í¢â‚¬  Willet reinforces. Bioteknica is not seeking to find answers in the way that science does, but instead to ask questions about how legitimate the scientific practices of our society really are. They want to show their audience that there is a lot more blood, gore and sacrifice of life that goes into the progress that science so often touts.

Bailey also emphasizes the potential benefits of allowing artists to operate within the scientific world, and enrich the quality of its work. í¢â‚¬Å“Art plays a really valuable role in disseminating information to a wider public [than science sometimes allows]í¢â‚¬  he explains, adding that an artistí¢â‚¬â„¢s critical skepticism towards the accepted order of things can function as a very effective tool for facilitating positive change in even the most specialized area of society í¢â‚¬“ including, of course, biotechnology.

While Bioteknica itself is not scheduled to shatter our science industry into an ethically driven wonderland, the project joins a growing number of people living and working at the intersection of art and science, challenging scientific status quos and forcing public questions into a profession that is all too often closed and reserved for private interest.

For further information on the project, please visit the website at http://www.bioteknica.org/ and look out for a meat sculpture in a town near you.

- Myles Estey

All images are courtesy of Jenniffer Willet, Shawn Bailey and the Bioteknica project.