SCIENCE AND ART SEASON
The advance of biotechnology is so rapid, the challenge of manipulating human nature so imminent, that the debate about our posthuman future is no longer reserved for scientists in white coats and clean rooms. The lives of individuals are already affected by neuropharmacology. Routinely, Prozac is prescribed for depression and Ritalin for hyperactivity. Many people have access to life-enhancing and life-prolonging treatment. ‘What if’ scenarios, which swing between reluctance and acceptance of biotechnology are constantly rehearsed. What if wealthy parents suddenly have open to them the opportunity to design the bodies and increase the intelligence of their children? Will that unravel the makings of not just new moral dilemmas but also of societal tensions?

The challenge is not merely a scientific or technological but ethical, political and increasingly an aesthetic one as well. This is the arena where more and more contemporary artists operate in an attempt to redefine concepts such as human rights and human dignity suggesting that they could be divorced from our religious assumptions about the origin of man. These ‘bioartists’ team up with scientists, technologists and philosophers or appropriate the tools of the biotech revolution such as DNA samples, cell cultures and genetically modified organisms as their media of choice, and herald a new kind of aesthetics.

In recognition of this emerging art form we were delighted to present Designer Bodies - co-produced in association with the Edinburgh International Science Festival. The science and art season comprised a major new exhibition, an international symposium and creative workshops for young people. Altogether, it featured 25 artists, scientists and teenagers from Scotland and beyond, all passionate and concerned about the wider impact of recent scientific breakthroughs in human genetics.

 

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