BIOART

Today we learned about the ethics of varying art forms. Katharine Niles lectured eloquently on bioart: the art practice using scientific methods and technique to manipulate tissue, bacteria, and living organisms. We not only discovered and examined art pieces in the bioart realm, but also discussed the ethics behind using medical bodies. There are many notable artists in this genre including Anna Dumitriu, Sir John Solston, and Gunther Von Hagens. The person that caught my eye was Marc Quinn and his provocative artwork called Self.  Interestingly, Self is a self-portrait sculpture of Quinn’s head and face made with his own blood casted and frozen. Theidea behind Self and how it  reflected his fight against alcoholism and his constant negative  dependency on this substance, led him to create this piece that in turn also depended on being plugged to electricity to stay frozen in order to maintain its artform. His work had profound meaning, so I was intrigued to examine his other works and see how far Quinn pushes the boundaries of bioart.

The Oneironaut VI (1994), part of the Emotional Detox series, shows a person being grabbed by many hands. Made of plaster.

Viewing Marc Quinn’s website, I stumbled upon a series of seven works called Emotional Detox. Similar to Self, Quinn uses molds of his own body to create cold, white, yet powerful sculptures. He arranges them in a composition that shows tension and control, often using molds of hands to grab onto his pained face, or hands ripping into his face, or strangling of his neck. The blemishes on the surface show the idea of imperfection, and the cleansing of a person. In addition, Quinn’s battle against alcohol addiction influenced this series, representing the idea that the battle is not only physical but also psychological. It is obvious that each of these pieces demonstrates an array of human emotions and the struggles of one’s transformation as we deal with life and our challenges. 

The Oneironaut V (1994) depicts hands trying to pull the figure apart. Made of plaster.

Marc Quinn’s works underscores one of Katharine Niles’s concepts that she spoke of: that art is driven by intent. Some of Quinn’s pieces have deep emotional feelings behind it while others address the larger state of the world. He shares these ideas through his artwork. He combines artistic expression with the use of nontraditional art mediums, such as biological materials, to create visually striking and emotionally evoking artwork. 

Raft Painting 837456 (2017) made of plastic bags on canvas. The “Raft Paintings” address a larger global issue regarding ecology. He uses non-biodegradable materials to illustrate this looming problem over our environment.

Resources

“Marc Quinn: Light into Life | Kew.” Www.kew.org, www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/marc-quinn.

Quinn, Marc. “Emotional Detox.” Marcquinn.com, marcquinn.com/artworks/emotional-detox.

---. “Self.” Marcquinn.com, 2011, marcquinn.com/artworks/self.