record

Thesis Info

LABS ID
00632
Thesis Title
Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics
Author
David Martinez-Moreno
2nd Author
3rd Author
Degree
Low-Residency Masters in Fine Arts
Year
07/2017
Number of Pages
22
University
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Thesis Supervisor
Tyler Coburn
Supervisor e-mail
tcoburn2 AT saic.edu
Other Supervisor(s)
Jens Hauser
Language(s) of Thesis
English
Department / Discipline
Art and Technology/Low-Residency MFA
Languages Familiar to Author
English/Spanish
URL where full thesis can be found
vufind.carli.illinois.edu/vf-sai/
Keywords
Bonsai, BioArt, Synthetic Aesthetics, Nature, Naturalism, Entropy, negentropy
Abstract: 200-500 words
This paper presents the thesis of Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics which hypothesize the aesthetics and ethics of living organisms as works of art. The term Synthetic Aesthetics is taken from the projects and consequent book with the same title. The work associated with Synthetic Aesthetics is based on the scientific paradigm of engineering biological machines. Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics incorporates this new paradigm and scrutinizes what it means to author a nature through the Biotechnological means that empower Naturalism as code. To define Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics it is necessary to frame it from an art historical account of Naturalism which appropriates forms, textures, colors, from the cultural conception of Nature and utilizes those elements to construct a frame for artworks. A parallel is drawn between Renaissance Naturalism and the biotechnological paradigm of DNA as a code for the assembly of living cultural objects. The Aesthetics proposed in this paper draw from the Japanese craft of Bonsai. The social construction of Nature in the west is contrasted with the Japanese term of atarimae, which considers an alternative ethical position in favor of the cultural living organism. Progressing from the atarimae aesthetics, Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics addresses the ethical question of authoring Nature and the instrumentalization of organisms by offering an alternative definition of life. This new definition of life is proposed as negentropy. In continuation, it is argued that the negation of entropy as life incorporates culture as a living organism. Lastly, Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics Naturalism in Synthetic Aesthetics is juxtaposed within the context of the expanding field of what could be considered BioArt; in an effort to join the conversation of current Art and Biotechnology practices.