Week 6 - BioTech + Art

In this week’s material the topic that interests me the most is the Workhouse Zoo project initiated by Adam Zaretsky and Julia Reodica. The project explored issues associated with biotechnology in various aspects.


Adam Zaretsky

The Workhouse Zoo project is an 8 foot by 8 foot biosecure container which contains ten different types of living organisms that forms a small biosphere. The living organisms include bacteria, yeast, worms, fruit flies, frogs, mice, fish, and human beings (which is Adam Zaretsky himself). The project was open to public and displayed on a 24 hours webcam, thus becoming part of the mass media comsumption. Information about the origins and behaviors of the displayed species were given to educate the public, and Adam Zaretsky himself worked throughout the time to feed the animals and keep the entire biosphere running.
 acaveman
The project have various other goals besides public education. On the artistic level Adam Zaretsky’s presence can be regarded as a piece of behavioral art. From the aspect of ethics, one may question whether it is ethical and humane to display the birth, death and hunting scene of animals to the public. Also, the project explores into the concept of anthropocentricism: living species that are distant to human beings, like flies and worms, are often considered less lovely. However, such views are only due to our own perspective. As one of the living species just like all the other species in the project, we may well question our own uniqueness and supriority among other animals.

 Sources:
Workhorse Zoo. Adam Zaretsky, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://emutagen.com/whzoogl.html>.

Workhorse Zoo Gallery. Adam Zaretsky, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://emutagen.com/whorsezoogal/workhorsezoogl/index.htm>.

The Workhorse Zoo Art and Bioethics Quiz. Adam Zaretsky, n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://emutagen.com/wrkhzoo.html>.

"Adam Zaretsky." Adam Zaretsky (biography). N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?NumPage=264>.

"Adam Zaretsky." The Multispecies Salon. N.p., 30 Oct. 2014. Web. 14 May 2017. <http://www.multispecies-salon.org/zaretsky/>.

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