LIFESCIENCE: Monsters

[Eugene Thacker <maldoror@eden.rutgers.edu>]

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ARS ELECTRONICA FESTIVAL 99
LIFESCIENCE
Linz, Austria, September 04 - 09
http://www.aec.at/lifescience
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Lorenzo Taiuti wrote:

> to Eugene:.=0D
> If scientists are working on culturally conservative ideas about genders how =
> can they affect the result of their work? =0D

This is of course a very complex issue, because even supposing that the
majority of researchers are willing to account for factors such as
gender, ethnicity, etc., the shift towards considering "cultural" issues
threatens to relativise the long and dense history of scientific
methodology, which, though in a given field "paradigms" change often,
still instantiates itself as "discovery" science and the accumulation of
scientific knowledge (scientific knowledge as the production of
artifacts directed towards predominantly practical/medical ends).

> 1) Art is a "weird" science, but just take a look at Marcel Duchamp "Etant d=
> onn=E8" about gender and De Chirico methaphisic paintingsabout artificial be=
> eings. When do we switch to the possible esthetic applications of our ethic struggl=
> es on genetic science?=0D

I think something like this was brought up earlier, and it is an
interesting thread to follow, because you're right - there is a whole
genealogy of art-as-science or crazy science, which is more than art
simply parodying science, but art forming some kind of "ironic"
scientific stance. Here I'd also mention Alfred Jarry's own brand of
"'pataphysics" ("the science of imaginary solutions") as well as an
entire history of avant-garde/technology movements (from Constructivism
thru EAT, GRAV, Group Zero). But beyond all these examples, they have
more or less remained (marginalized?) w/in "art", despite all their
emphasis on technique, artist-as-craftsman, engineering, etc. Which is
why the recent examples of "hacktivism" and software design (WebStalker,
Linux, etc.) are interesting in that they've attempted to cross some
kind of threshold separating a "statement" or "critique" into "use" and "practice"...

Eugene



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