Shopping around for birthday gifts? How about a decorative pair of of wings that can be grafted on to your back? Part pig, part human, this biologically-engineered accessory could give you that angelic look you’ve been seeking.
Shopping around for birthday gifts? How about a decorative pair of of wings that can be grafted on to your back? Part pig, part human, this biologically-engineered accessory could give you that angelic look you’ve been seeking.
That particular piggy product hasn’t yet made its way to market, but artists Guy Ben-Ary, Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts are engaged in the process of redefining the word bizarre by creating a new artistic palette using tissue engineering and stem cell technologies as the medium for their sculptures.
Their project, Pig Wings, which will be presented as part of the Biennale of Electronic Arts Perth (BEAP) this August, will showcase wing-shaped objects made from living pig tissue, wings that will be animated using living muscles grown from rat cells.
An extension of the Tissue Culture and Art project, whose goal is to create a vision of futuristic objects that are partly artificially constructed and partly grown/born, the semi-living pig’s wings explores the area of xenotransplantation — the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from non-humans. The artists are experimenting with the state of-the-art, including genetic mainpulation and insertion of human genes into the animal genome for better compatibility.
“Tissue engineering offers a possibility to change our own design as well as create a new breed of ‘things,’” says Ionat. “Presently, scientists are trying to mimic nature. However, how will we look when we decide to improve nature? Are we going to see fashion driven neo-organs? Are we going to completely objectify living matter?”
Though the pig wings that have been developed now are only about an inch long, Guy sees mainstream treatment to replace whole complex organs in general, as being only around 10 to 15 years away.
Experimenting with different kinds of ideas, the artists have grown tissue over representations of technological artifacts such as cogwheels, bombs, surgical instruments, pre-historic stone tools and cultural artifacts (Guatemalan worry dolls and found glass objects). In Oculus Latus, tissue was grown over an eye retractor to give an idea of a future where living biological matter interacts seamlessly with constructed systems to create semi-living tools.
Fish and Chips, an undertaking of SymbioticA, University of Western Australia, aims to create a “semi-living artistic entity” assembled from fish neurons grown over silicon chips. Part of the Biofeel exhibition, the goal here is to explore how “arty” this being can get over time by inspiring it with music and other external inputs, with its responses being decoded into drawings and music.
“Semi-Living objects consist of constructed elements and living parts of one or more organisms assembled and sustained by humans,” says Oron. “These entities we create might become our ‘naturalish’ companions, our machines and even our dwelling.”
The artists are working on a new project in which they will grow a steak made out of the muscle cells of a sheep that is still alive and kicking. They plan to eat the steak, while the animal from which the cells originated is in the vicinity. “The vision of not needing to kill animals for protein production really fascinates us, but on the other hand, highlights the ambiguity of dealing and caring for living biological systems for human-centric activities.”
The projects of the TCA aim at highlighting what is possible when medical technologies are used for purposes other than strictly saving life. “These semi-living entities are our own creation and we do carry the responsibility for their survival and well being,” says Oron. “We hope that most people who interact with our work realize that they are presented with something that their belief systems are not able to deal with.
“We want people to recognize that the tools of modern biology confront us with a need to start to formulate a new moral framework to deal with what we know about life and our newly acquired ability to manipulate it. Frankenstein (ran) away when he was faced with his own creation. I hope we, as a society, will be wiser.”
Author: Lakshmi Sandhana
News Service: Wired News
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That particular piggy product hasn’t yet made its way to market, but artists Guy Ben-Ary, Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts are engaged in the process of redefining the word bizarre by creating a new artistic palette using tissue engineering and stem cell tech” target=”_blank”>
That particular piggy product hasn’t yet made its way to market, but artists Guy Ben-Ary, Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts are engaged in the process of redefining the word bizarre by creating a new artistic palette using tissue engineering and stem cell tech
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