Interdisciplinarity as critical Inquiry: Visualizing the Art/Bioscience interface

Abstract

Different disciplines rely on particular methods and assumptions in their knowledge practices. However, there may be significant costs in the conceptual and social boundaries that disciplines set as specialized communities. Engaging with the biological sciences, for example, has become a necessity in our everyday lives in ways unimaginable just a few years before, ranging from genetically modified organisms and new reproductive technologies to emerging diseases and issues of ecological sustainability. However, how can non-specialists be a part of this scientific knowledge and decision-making as a matter of personal agency given the complex and interwoven nature of these biological phenomena? A number of practices in contemporary art and design are engaging with biology and questions of participation in novel ways, including in the emerging area of ‘BioArt’. Discussed here are examples of practices that challenge traditional assumptions about both art as well as biology, and raise important questions about the possibilities and prospects for certain forms of critical interdisciplinary engagement.