Week 6 Post

 Blog 6

John Campos DESMA 9

    The McDonalds Food Experiment exemplifies how life itself can be an expressive medium. Within the experiment, there is no actual chemical analysis going on to show how the food is harmful. Instead, the aesthetic that is created from the natural process of decomposition is what is so visually striking (McDonalds Food Experiment). 




    This is also exemplified by the GFP Bunny. Again, what becomes visually striking is the fact that a natural process has been manipulated under human conditions in order to convey a sense of shock value (Kac). 




    Kathy High is an artist who also operates within this modality, but instead of alteration or modification, she is able to recontextualize science in an artistic lens, something she accomplishes simply by reframing lab rats as creatures worth caring for, a notion which is artistically resonant because these creatures are usually disregarded (High).  

    Marta de Menezes work, where " live butterflies ... wing patterns were modified for artistic purposes" (de Menezes), also exemplifies the way that modification of genetics can be used as a form of aesthetic expression, the butterflies being selectively brought to life for a visual purpose. 




Lastly, DNA itself becomes the subject of artistic interpretation within the Suspect Inversion Center, where participants were invited to undergo a set of steps in order to cause their DNA to aesthetically resemble the DNA evidence from the OJ trial in an effort to negate the popular view of DNA as concrete evidence within court. Interestingly enough, the aesthetics of the DNA in this situation are not being used for shock value but instead in a didactic manner (Suspect Inversion Center). 



References 

  1. “How Did Matilda, Tara and Star Barbie Become Transgenic Rats?” Embracing Animal: All About Transgenic Rats, http://www.embracinganimal.com/transrats.html.


  1. Kac, Eduardo. “GFP Bunny.” GFP Bunny, http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html#gfpbunnyanchor.


  1. “McDonald's Food Experiment.” YouTube, 12 June 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6us9kHHSNwk. Accessed 6 May 2022.


  1. Menezes, Marta. “Nature.” https://martademenezes.com/art/nature/. 


  1. Vanouse, Paul. “Suspect Inversion Center (SIC).” Suspect Inversion Center (Sic), http://www.paulvanouse.com/sic.html.


Image References:

Ripley's Believe it Or Not. “McDonald's Food Doesnt Rot.” https://www.ripleys.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/CC-Wimox-flickr.jpg.

The Guardian. “Scientists breed glow-in-the-dark rabbits” https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/13/glow-in-dark-rabbits-scientists.

Hypernatural. “The Museum for Insects” https://hypernatural.com/museum/marta_de_menezes.html.










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