Bioart and the Vitality of Media

Through the example of a movement in which artists project living or formerly living matter in art galleries, Mitchell (English, Duke U.) develops an embodied conception of media. After defining bioart and distinguishing between its two modes, he examines the historical conditions of possibility, including changes in technology, social relations, and art spectatorship that make biotechnology a viable object of interest for artists. Finally, he draws on the use of both biological and communicational media in vitalist bioart to develop a concept of media life to account for the link between objective and subjective conditions. Annotation 穢2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)