Research Catalog

Title

The molecular gaze : art in the genetic age / Suzanne Anker, Dorothy Nelkin.

Author

Anker, Suzanne, 1946-

Publication

Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, c2004.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Nelkin, Dorothy

Description

xxiii, 216 p. : ill. (some col.); 27 cm.

Summary

"The gene is a biological construction, but as the genetic revolution has progressed it has also become a cultural icon with symbolic and metaphoric associations. Its cultural meaning, reflected in popular culture and visual art, has become independent of its biological definition, thus expressing many of the issues emerging from the genetic revolution. That the complex and abstract science of molecular genetics has achieved this status is remarkable, and it has provided a rich source of imagery and ideas for contemporary artists. The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age explores the works produced by these "sci-artists" as well as the moral and bioethical issues that they address. Suzanne Anker and Dorothy Nelkin provide insight into the social and ethical meanings of this important science through the gaze of artists and their visual interpretations, illustrating their discussions with a wide range of contemporary art. And they suggest the ways in which DNA representations relate to archetypal images that have appeared throughout the history of art."--Jacket.

Series Statement

Cold Spring Harbor Press series on genomics, bioethics, and public policy

Uniform Title

Cold Spring Harbor Press series on genomics, bioethics, and public policy.

Subject

• Art and science
• Biology in art
• Genetic Phenomena
• Genetic Structures
• Genetics in art
• Geschichte 1990-2003
• Medicine in the Arts
• Science > Social aspects

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Divining DNA / Philip R. Reilly -- Image credits -- Deciphering DNA: the art and science of a supermolecule -- Reductionism: the body as a "code script" of information -- Mutation, manipulation, and monsters: the new grotesque in art -- Blurring boundaries: chimeras and transgenics -- Breeding better babies: a new eugenics? -- Commodification: genes for sale -- Science as culture: through the artist's lens -- Lists of artists and their works -- Appendix, group art exhibits that focus on genetics concepts.

ISBN

0879696974 (Hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

^^2003020067

OCLC

53019483

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library