I use microbial life to create works of art. Biotechnical developments have afforded a high degree of influence over the basic molecular building blocks of life. Transgenic and DNA synthesis techniques have accelerated the domestication of life for human ends. By engaging with the practices of biotechnology I explore the utilization of the living and the complex cultural and technological dynamics surrounding it.
Through this practice I have discovered that living organisms are difficult to control. As complex systems, bacteria and yeast have their own agency, and display emergent, self-determining behaviors. Biology, biotechnology and cybernetics have a tendency to reduce life forms to their instrumental properties, framing microbes as objects to manipulate and manage. My work addresses this reductive tendency and explores its political implications. How does the approach to life that forms in the laboratory influence concepts of power?
