Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices
Life in the era of biotechnology opens up opportunities but also poses challenges related to our values and questions regarding the way we want to see coexistence on our planet, which is inhabited by many species. The parasite is our case study and an interesting concept that we inherit from b...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Catalan |
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Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
2022-11-01
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| Series: | Artnodes |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/402841 |
| _version_ | 1818470439557529600 |
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| author | Morten Søndergaard Laura Beloff |
| author_facet | Morten Søndergaard Laura Beloff |
| author_sort | Morten Søndergaard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
Life in the era of biotechnology opens up opportunities but also poses challenges related to our values and questions regarding the way we want to see coexistence on our planet, which is inhabited by many species.
The parasite is our case study and an interesting concept that we inherit from biology but which is also addressed in humanism and philosophy. As humans, we commonly understand the concept of a parasite as a negative one that suggests someone or something which benefits at our expense. However, French philosopher Michel Serres had a different view of the parasite. According to him, the parasite is based on relationships between different entities, and there is often noise in these relationships. Serres refers to biologist Henri Atlan, who has argued that said noise forces the system to reorganize itself in a way that incorporates the noise into the complex system. The idea of noise as an integrated part of the system is quite far from today’s thought processes with the development of bio/technology that typically aims to be noiseless and error-free and have aesthetically attractive results.
Therefore, although parasites are often associated with terms such as inhospitable, undesirable, and disgusting and are seen to be located outside of art and technology, in this paper, we argue that the concept of something parasitical is tightly intertwined with our contemporary biotechnical lives. The article relates Serres’ parasitic thinking to an artistic mediation of the biological parasite: the tick.
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| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:37:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-34810ea372154ac3bfb10a64ef1b7717 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1695-5951 |
| language | Catalan |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T21:37:50Z |
| publishDate | 2022-11-01 |
| publisher | Universitat Oberta de Catalunya |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Artnodes |
| spelling | doaj.art-34810ea372154ac3bfb10a64ef1b77172022-12-22T02:28:53ZcatUniversitat Oberta de CatalunyaArtnodes1695-59512022-11-013010.7238/artnodes.v0i30.402841Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practicesMorten Søndergaard0Laura Beloff1Aalborg University, DenmarkAalto University, Finland Life in the era of biotechnology opens up opportunities but also poses challenges related to our values and questions regarding the way we want to see coexistence on our planet, which is inhabited by many species. The parasite is our case study and an interesting concept that we inherit from biology but which is also addressed in humanism and philosophy. As humans, we commonly understand the concept of a parasite as a negative one that suggests someone or something which benefits at our expense. However, French philosopher Michel Serres had a different view of the parasite. According to him, the parasite is based on relationships between different entities, and there is often noise in these relationships. Serres refers to biologist Henri Atlan, who has argued that said noise forces the system to reorganize itself in a way that incorporates the noise into the complex system. The idea of noise as an integrated part of the system is quite far from today’s thought processes with the development of bio/technology that typically aims to be noiseless and error-free and have aesthetically attractive results. Therefore, although parasites are often associated with terms such as inhospitable, undesirable, and disgusting and are seen to be located outside of art and technology, in this paper, we argue that the concept of something parasitical is tightly intertwined with our contemporary biotechnical lives. The article relates Serres’ parasitic thinking to an artistic mediation of the biological parasite: the tick. https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/402841parasiteSerresbiologytechnologynoiseticks |
| spellingShingle | Morten Søndergaard Laura Beloff Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices Artnodes parasite Serres biology technology noise ticks |
| title | Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices |
| title_full | Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices |
| title_fullStr | Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices |
| title_full_unstemmed | Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices |
| title_short | Living biotechnical lives: noise, parasites, and relational practices |
| title_sort | living biotechnical lives noise parasites and relational practices |
| topic | parasite Serres biology technology noise ticks |
| url | https://raco.cat/index.php/Artnodes/article/view/402841 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mortensøndergaard livingbiotechnicallivesnoiseparasitesandrelationalpractices AT laurabeloff livingbiotechnicallivesnoiseparasitesandrelationalpractices |