Admission requirements
See MA Exam regulations; it is an MA course
Description
In this seminar, we will examine interactions between art, design, the biological sciences and ethics. There is a growing number of international artists and designers that make use of the possibilities of the biological sciences to work with new materials, that is, living materials that traditionally do not belong to the artistic realm. The use of these living materials in artistic and design practice also implies the application of the tools and technologies of the biological sciences in the arts. With the use of biomaterials – tissue, DNA, cells, – in works of art and design, artists and designers have taken on board also the discourses and practices in the scientific lab. In this seminar we will reflect on the esthetical, ethical, cultural and societal implications of art and design that addresses and incorporates biological science practices and issues such as designing animals by way of transgenic research, the blurring borders between animals and humans when both are manipulated, definitions of life, etcetera. This seminar will discuss some of the most critical and cutting edge art and design and connect them to theories on rhetoric and to ethical en cultural questions.
Course objectives
Students learn to: – Analyse contemporary forms of art and design in a critical way and relate them to other contemporary practices – Reflect on art and design from perspectives of ethical, moral, and philosophical frameworks – Present an academic paper about their results before the class – Present their results in a written paper with an analytic academic level
Time Table
MA year 1, february-may 2011.
Teaching Method
Research seminar
Test Method
oral presentation (20%)
written paper (80%)
Blackboard
For assignments and communication in general.
Required reading
To be assigned
Register
USIS
Contact
r.zwijnenberg@hum.leidenuniv.nl