Bodies in Biotechnology: Embodied Models for Understanding Biotechnology in Contemporary Art

by Jennifer Willet

Abstract
This paper serves as an introduction to an evolving series of texts exploring the intersection between computation, biology, art, science, and education. Contemporary biotechnologies are often portrayed as if all forms of biological manipulation are genetic and equivalent in protocol to data entry command keystrokes <insert>, <delete>, <copy> and <paste>. This blanket application of computational models to instances of biotechnology provides a sterilizing affect, removing all that is wet, bloody, unruly, and animal, from mass imaginations of the biotech future.

“Bodies in Biotechnology” focuses on moving away from computational models and reuniting notions of embodiment with the language and representation of biotechnology with a social and political mandate towards informed discourse and public consent. Methodologically, the author proposes artistic means for non-specialists to engage in biotechnology as an embodied practice. Thus, the essay argues for a more holistic understanding of evolving biotechnologies through practical means, an approach that results in a complex text that neither supports nor denounces the advancement of biotechnology.

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