Posthuman Genetic Legacies: Rethinking (Im)mortality and the Limits of Reproduction Through Hybrid Bioart Practice
Posthuman Genetic Legacies: Rethinking (Im)mortality and the Limits of Reproduction Through Hybrid Bioart Practice
Author(s): Svenja KratzSubject(s): Gender Studies, Health and medicine and law, Demography and human biology
Published by: Widok. Fundacja Kultury Wizualnej
Keywords: posthumanism; biological art; interdisciplinary creative practice; alternative reproduction; biotechnology; practice-based research;
Summary/Abstract: The article presents Posthuman Genetic Legacies a practice-based research project that investigates avenues of producing an alternative non-human and ongoing genetic legacy via biotechnological intervention. The project aims to establish cell lines (immortalised cells) from benign tumour (fibroid) tissue removed from the artist’s uterus following abdominal surgery in 2020. Rather than simply advocating for the uptake of biotechnological reproduction, the project aims to use this provocation to interrogate gender expectations and the desire for immortality via genetic continuance. It invites consideration on how a posthuman Xenofeminist positioning that disrupts biological norms and embraces the emancipatory and world-building potential of new technologies may offer an empowered conceptual space for rethinking the anguish of situational childlessness.
Journal: Widok. Teorie i Praktyki Kultury Wizualnej
- Issue Year: 2022
- Issue No: 32
- Page Range: 1-41
- Page Count: 41
- Language: English