by C.P Snows’ influential Two Cultures essay outlines what he calls the “great cultural divide” between the disciplines of science and the humanities/arts. Snow, who declares that the sharp line (and lack of communication) between these intellectual activities is detrimental to the human pursuit of knowledge, argues that interdisciplinary thinking and communication is crucial for both scientific and societal breakthroughs, and ultimately calls for the bridging of these two cultures.
In Biotechnology and Art, however, the author points to how the histories of art and science are in fact already (yet perhaps subtly) intertwined. While science and art are often considered two drastically different activities — science is said to be an objective pursuit (in which one collects and organizes facts), art is considered a subjective venture (one which presents information or impressions as a form of imaginative expression) — both disciplines have, and continue to influence each other and build on each other’s achievements. Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man, for example, is a remarkable achievement that impacted the fields of both art and science. Da Vinci’s use of perspective and proportion was in the realm of art, and the drawing also created a move towards a more realistic and detailed description of human bodies in science. Further, during the scientific revolution of the nineteenth century, artistic expression contributed to the “mechanical philosophy” that widely shaped scientific thought of the time period. The detailed prints of Albrecht Durer, for example, are recognized as crucial to the development of the mechanical philosophy mindset.
Albrecht Dürer, Knight, Death, and the Devil, 1513. Engraving.
The two disciplines are thus “connected to one another at critical points […] after all, art and science might both be said to be involved in the larger project of representing and understanding the world around us.” (359) Art and science mutually influence each other: while artistic expression has influenced the development of knowledge about the natural world, scientific knowledge has simultaneously influenced art. In Biotechnology & Art, the author supports C.P’s Snow’s contention that the great divide will hinder the human pursuit of knowledge by demonstrating how disciplines of art and science have actually been supporting and sustaining each other for years. The intertwining of the two disciplines has already been crucial in the human pursuit of knowledge, thus proving Snow’s declaration that a stronger bridge between the two cultures is critical for the future of discovery.
However, not only is art directly intertwined with scientific discovery, but it is also important for fostering public understanding and debate of the ethical and moral concerns surrounding science. Bio-Art is one way in which artist-scientists act as the clear bridge between the scientific and art communities.
Eduardo Kac a well-known bio artist, for example, created this 1999 art installation “Genesis” which was on display at the OK Center for Contemporary Art in LInz, Austria. The installation, which explored the relationship between biology, religion, information technology and ethics draws attention to the dangers of using genetic engineering to “play God.” The installation features colonies of genetically engineered bacteria which were projected onto the walls of the gallery alongside projections of a verse from the first book of the Christian Bible. “Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moves upon this earth,” (Genesis) was translated first into Morse code, and then into DNA base pairs, drawing attention to the erasing of boundaries between living and nonliving objects.
This artwork is an example of the ways in which bio-art can bring the questions which are normally reserved for the “scientific” sphere into new spaces (such as a public art gallery). Bioart manages to take biotech outside of the academic/industrial/medical spaces, and challenges us to see biotechnology in new ways. By exploring how society is and will be impacted by the pursuit of knowledge within the scientific realm, Kac expresses both hopes and fears surrounding biotechnology. “Genesis” broadens the debate conversation of the ethics and morals of biotechnology by bringing the discussion to new spaces, thus bridging the gap between science, art, and the general public.
Sources:
https://harvardartmuseums.org/article/a-closer-look-at-dürer-s-prints
Snow, C. P., and Stefan Collini. The Two Cultures. Cambridge University Press, 1993.
Chapter 24: Biotechnology and Art