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Benítez Valero, Laura "Bioart. An Aesthetic of Disorganisation." PhD in Philosophy
, Autonomous University of Barcelona, 2014
Keywords/Fields of Study : Bioart, Body, Life, semi-living-entities, Disorganisation, Bioplotics, Bioethics, Postnatural, Artistic research, estrangement
Abstract: Bioart. An Aesthetic of Disorganisation focuses on how the relationship between biotechnology and artistic practises has raised unprecedented questions about body, life, about the relationship between Art_s, Science_s, Society_es, Ethics, Aesthetics, Economy and Politics. The use of biotechnology, bio-materials and semi-living entities as an essential part of artistic research allows us to ask which has been the evolution of Life concept from a philosophical perspective. These projects show us the necessity of a re-evaluation of standard taxonomies, and can also enable new discourses on the different relationships we establish with these “entities"; new discourses on (post)humankind, postnatural condition and the relationship between humans and non-humans. This PhD dissertation connects some bioartistic practises with some philosophical concepts and issues, as the (bio)ethical claims of using biological material for artistic purposes, the ethical claims of using non-humans animals as a part of the artworks, the role of art in research or the role of contemporary philosophy in artistic research, and tries to show how technological innovation and Science research are becoming key to Contemporary Aesthetics.
Thinking Bioart as a place for an aesthetic of disorganisation does not mean falling into radical relativism. An aesthetic of disorganisation intends to take the potential of these artistic practises to disrupt the body, distorting codes, narratives and taxonomies. It involves the composition of a fragmented landscape, a collage that allows for new constructions out of the estrangement, new questions about body, life, art, (bio)ethics and (bio)politics. A disruption that allows to re-think-one(our)self in an extended plane, asking on the possibility of an extended agency. An aesthetic that allows us to escape from an unifying and hierarchical organisation. An aesthetic of disorganisation which is located in the interface between transhumanism and posthumanism. A space(s) of resistance(s), a place for perpetual displacement.
Department: Philosophy/Aesthetics
, Autonomous University of Barcelona
Advisor(s): Gerard Vilar
