Final Essay

Thousands of people walk through museums all over the world each day and have no clue what is going on in the art world at the present time. I consider myself to be part of the “art world” and yet I had never heard of many of the theorists or artists discussed in this class. How had I missed looking at this artwork? Would I have considered this artwork?
As a painter, I was influenced most by the second half of the semester, but now realize how important the first half of the semester was. Looking back, the “cyborg nation” that Donna Haraway wrote about does not seem far fetched. Society is taking on characteristics of computer categoricalization. It is the artist’s duty to fight “optoelectronic “, or a type of plugged in to operate world. This would benefit government and corporate control. On the other hand it is beneficial to society for technology boundaries to be pushed. The Tissue Culture and Art Project are pushing the boundaries as artist. While looking at the grown cells, I thought about Neuromancer. When written in 1984, technology such as cell culture growth seemed years away. Through the Tissue Culture and Art Project website the average person can see where art can take technology. I feel it is important for art and science to merge, possibly because of my own associations with medical technology.
This class influenced me more than I could have imagined. Most importantly, I have learned how important it is to research new artworks. If someone would have asked me three months ago if locative media was artwork, my reply would have been no. Now, my views have been altered. I look deeper into what is art and what artworks are trying to convey. This class may not change my paintings as a whole, but it has sparked new interest for other types of art. After graduating in May, I may venture back to my original major, Nuclear Medicine, now that I have a new found respect on how I as an artist can work with science. As a student who has always gone back and forth between art and science, I believe the second half of the semester showed me ways that I can create an equality for both fields in my own life.

Galloway, Alexander R. . “Protocal Futures.” Protocal: How Control Exists After Decentralization. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press, 2004. Pp. 147-246.
Gibson, William. Neuromancer: Remembering Tomorrow. New York: Ace Books, 1984.
Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century.” Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, The Reinvention of Nature. New York : Routledge, 1991. Pp. 149-181
The Tissue Culture and Art Project. Mar. 2008. 19 Nov. 2008 http://www.tcauwaedu.au/
Virilio, Paul. “The Third Interval”. Open Sky. Julie Rose, trans. London:Verso, 1997. Pp. 9-21.

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