Technology
has changed people's lives a lot. But as technology is more important in our
society, we become to rely on it more often and sees everything through its
eyes. Heidegger said technology is a mode of revealing. The techne means activity (technology) and
aesthetic, implying technology may have a strong connection to art. How was art
developed in the beginning? I think it started from the appreciation of nature,
as we know many ancient crafts were inspired by things in nature. Therefore, in "The Question Concerning Technology", I think Heidegger was trying to give the
idea that technology is just a way to reveal nature. But because we tend to figure
things out based on technological concepts, we ignore and show no respect to
nature. So to be aware of this problem, art is a way to question it.
My idea to
respond to this article was biotechnology application on DNA codons. As being biology
major, I want to connect Heidegger's idea with biotechnology. DNA is consisted
with the small molecules called nucleotides. There are four types of
nucleotides: A, T, C, and G. Just like computer codon, they are the codon coded
for all genetic information of an organism. The work was built as an
interactive sculpture. I made the sculpture as a human's heart and placed a
green light bulb inside of it. Reason of using green light was that the
fluorescent green is a common dye used for viewing DNA sequence. The light bulb
was set in a DC circuit with a switch that could turn it on or off. When an
audience switches the light on, the four letters ATCG are shown on the surface
of the heart. I used paper towel for my sculpture building because it was an
accessible material. Before putting the last layer on the sculpture, I cut out
the letters. So this is how those words can only be seen when turning the light
bulb on.
Having a
base under the sculpture, the work can be just installed on any flat surface
(such as on a table) to allow audience to interactive with it. The heart
sculpture means a creation of Nature and the codons are the invention of human
technology. To allow the audience view my work more easily, I also wrote the words
Nature and Technology on each side of the switch. However, it seems to make the
work has a too simple meaning. A further consideration of finding a good
balance between abstract and simplicity is needed.
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