研究團隊

生命的答案在培養皿裡嗎？在DNA的序列裡嗎？在神經元訊息的傳遞之間嗎？人體組織止於身體的外部邊界嗎？當今生物科技在重大技術上的突破，令人驚歎它的應用是如此強大，但其所引發的倫理道德争議也愈趨多樣，例如人類基因組解讀計劃對隱私權的侵犯、複製動物、複製人所引發的道德隱憂，乃至於基因改造作物與基因編輯技術CRISPR應用上的安全性疑慮。但就另一個層面而言，我們也有發現，人類、動物、植物的免疫系統，也是一種感官系統，除了感知、行為以外，也能與各種物種與環境進行不同程度的溝通，其方式與內容遠超過我們目前的理解。若能去除以「人為中心」的視角，而以人作為生命網絡的一部份，來探索生物科技可能發展，那它就不再只是關於基因演化革命、人工生命等，而是能以一個更廣義的生態生命系統的視野與高度，從各種視角切入，試圖去理解其中深藏的連結與可能的意義。因此，與其說生物科技藝術的可能性是在於跨域混生或異域結盟，不如說是透過多重逃逸路徑，建立另類的生物、醫學、材料、媒體、文化批判理論與藝術語法，超越因分科分流所導致的思想框架、斷裂與不理解，在既有的知識板塊之外，重新開啓辯論與理解，給出帶有異質性的思考、視域、轉譯、樣態與動能，企圖觸及目前身體感知與思考尚未抵達之處。而建置此生物藝術資料庫正是朝向最遠之處的第一步，從任何一個分類的子項進入，每一筆資料、每一件生物藝術案例分析、每一場推測思辯交鋒，都是一場未知的生物突變、革命、演化的起手式。

Is the answer to life in the petri dish, in the DNA sequence, or among the transmissions of neuron messages? Is the boundary of the human body and the world our body skin? With the vigorous development of biotechnology, the accompanying ethical and moral disputes have become more and more diverse, such as the Human Genome Project (HGP)’s infringement of genetic privacy, the moral issues of creating a clone of a human, animal, or genetically modified crops, and the safety concerns about the application of gene editing technology CRISPR. These major technology breakthroughs in biotechnology often make people marvel at how powerful biotechnology applications are, but also challenge the boundaries of the ethical controversy caused by biotechnology. But on another level, we have also discovered that the immune system of a human, animal, or plant is also a sensory system. In addition to perceiving and behaving, it is also capable of communicating with various species and the environment to varying degrees. How or what exactly does it communicate with others is still far beyond our understanding. The exploration of possible biotechnology development would be more than scientific research if we could detach ourselves from the human-centered perspective and see ourselves as one of the participants of the life network. As a part of the ecosystem, we as human beings can investigate the profound connections and meanings of this life network in a wide spectrum, as well as at a height of a more comprehensive perspective. Therefore, instead of seeing BioArt as a hybrid or an alliance of various disciplines, it would be better to see it as an ongoing process of constructing alternatives or escaping routes to depart the existed and divided disciplines. The process encompasses biotechnological, medical, social, cultural, and artistic praxis approaches. And the outcomes might fall out of the existed knowledge domains. However, the purposes are to initiate debates, new understandings, or heterogeneous thinking, expecting to lead to a place where we have not been there yet. The establishment of this BioArt database is the first step towards the furthest point. No matter which sub-item of classification, which piece of data, which case analysis, which speculative design you begin with, each of them will give rise to thought, revolution, and evolution.

— 計畫主持人賴雯淑 —