Constructing Ethics: Bioart's Critical Probe into Life Manipulation and Navigating the Ethical Terrain

Abstract

Bioart, a contemporary artistic practice that utilizes biological materials, living tissues, and scientific processes as its medium, stands at the provocative intersection of art, science, and philosophy. By transforming laboratories into studios and biological life into aesthetic material, bioart challenges fundamental conceptions of life, creation, and the role of the artist. However, this very act of aestheticizing life forces a confrontation with a complex and often contentious ethical landscape. This paper argues that bioart does not merely encounter ethical boundaries but actively constructs and probes them, functioning as a vital public forum for debating the implications of biotechnology. Through a critical analysis of seminal bioartworks-from the transgenic aesthetics of Eduardo Kac’s GFP Bunny to the tissue-cultured semi-living of the Tissue Culture & Art Project-this article maps the primary ethical territories contested by the field: the moral status of the manipulated organism, the concepts of agency and authorship, the implications of public engagement, and the biopolitical dimensions of life manipulation. The paper concludes that the ethical unease provoked by bioart is not a flaw to be mitigated but its core critical function, making it an indispensable practice for a society increasingly governed by biological engineering.