Living media: Transgressing bios, transgressing techne and paving the way to further transgressions

Living media: Transgressing bios, transgressing techne and paving the way to further transgressions

(Long paper)

Keywords: Living media, transgression, bios, techne, media theories, art theories, bio art.

It was only a while ago that a clear opposition could be traced between bios and techne. However, together with the emergence of new branches of science, such as biotechnology, stemming from discovery of the code of life and an assumption, that there exists a certain relevancy, a pattern of relationships between genetic and computer codes were established and developed vastly at the intersection of the two, once distant domains. The silicone versus carbon division ceases to exist. Rather it’s silicone and carbon, a come back of the material, of the carbon remediated by data, by codes and algorithms. An immense transgression this type of media elicited is that they are literally alive: living synthetic cells, living tissues, living organisms. Moreover, they transgress classical media theories, philosophical concepts and, when employed into artistic practice, common art theories. They may also pave way for further transgressions such as disruption of the boundaries of species as a consequence of deliberate scientific experiments or laboratory aberrations. In my presentation I would like to address these issues and make an attempt of tracing foundations and goals for the theory of living media