Bioarte: body and technology of Eduardo Kac's work

• Grant number: 20/04147-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2021
• End date: October 31, 2021
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Art Fundamentals and Criticism
• Principal Investigator: Regilene Aparecida Sarzi Ribeiro
• Grantee: Laryssa Valencise
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Arquitetura, Artes e Comunicação (FAAC). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Bauru. Bauru , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The theme of this research pre-project is the body, technology and ethical issues, such as the use of human genetic material (body) as artistic materiality; the hybridity of living matter and its manipulation through technology, the use of organic material for artistic purposes and human intervention in nature, which involve bioart in the works of the artist Eduardo Kac. The aim is to investigate what Bioarte is in the light of theoretical and poetic reflections by researcher Eduardo Kac and to observe and describe how Eduardo Kac integrates body and technology with ethical aspects in his works. The research arose from the following concern: How does Eduardo Kac appropriate the body and technology to discuss ethical issues in his artistic works? To answer the question, the research proposes to observe and describe the way and the ways in which the body and technology are integrated with conceptual elements such as hybridity, materiality and immateriality, organic and synthetic to weave connections between ethical and aesthetic aspects in the works by Eduardo Kac. This is a theoretical-reflective and descriptive qualitative research carried out based on the collection of data and bibliographic and iconographic materials, whose interpretation of the results will take place through an essay text, resulting from the reading and review of texts and research generated in the artistic and academic fields, produced by researcher Eduardo Kac and research artists like Marta Menezes, César Baio, Guto Nóbrega. In short, it is expected that the results will provoke knowledge and reflection on the ethical issues mentioned above, which are put into debate as technological advances and the consequent popularization of mechanical devices, as well as human-machine interaction, they allow contemporary artists, like Eduardo Kac, to create works of art using living organisms as the raw material for their poetics.