In our age of fast-paced biotechnological progress and humans' increasing impact on the environment the autonomy of 'nature' has come into question. We can now engineer living things, blur the biological distinctions between humans and animals, and influence parts of our world that we cannot see - such as DNA and genes. These discoveries and far-reaching developments have created fertile ground for artistic expression. This book reveals the ways in which the work of bio artists offers new meanings for our lives in the wake of scientific discovery, as well as new frameworks for describing them. Four thematic chapters cover the key areas in which biotechnology has had an impact on today's world, including ecology, biomedicine, designer genomes and evolutionary theory, profiling the work of 60 artists, collectives and organizations from countries including France, Germany, the US, the Netherlands, Mexico and Japan. Interviews with eight bio artists and technologists, including Arne Hendriks, Mark Dion, Boo Chapple, Heather Dewey-Hagborg and Raphael Kim, provide a deeper insight into the ideas and methods of this new breed of creative practitioner.

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

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.

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



Book Information
ISBN 9780500239322
Author William Myers
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Thames & Hudson Ltd
Publisher Thames & Hudson Ltd
Weight(grams) 1360g