Through the Scope of Life [electronic resource] : Art and (Bio)Technologies Philosophically Revisited / by María Antonia González Valerio, Polona Tratnik.

Part 1: Ontologies Performing Life -- 1.Life in a medium - Rethinking the Possibilities of Art and Bio-Media from an Aesthetic Ontology -- 2.The Ontology of Micro-Performativity -- Part 2: Politics of Technologies -- 3. Transgenesis as Art, Art as Infection. The Case of Adam Zaretsky -- 4. On Technique and Spaces -- Part 3: Animalities. Breaking Through -- 5. Breaking Through Animalities. On Spaces and Limits -- 6. Becoming Animal as Biopolitical Resistance -- 7. Animal Encounters -- 8. The Animalistic Sublime -- The Axolotl Immersed in its Spatiality -- Index.

This book offers intriguing philosophical inquiries into biotechnological art and the life sciences, addressing their convergences as well as their epistemic and functional divergences. Rooted on a thorough understanding of the history of philosophy, this work builds on critical and ontological thought to interpret the concept of life that underscores first-hand dealings with matter and experimentation. The book breaks new ground on the issue of animality and delivers fresh posthumanist perspectives on the topics addressed. The authors embark on a deep ontological probe of the concept of medium as communication-bridging and life-bearing. They also take on the concept of performativity as biotechnological art. The book includes concrete, well-documented case studies and shows how certain narratives and practices directly impact ideas surrounding science and technologies. It will interest philosophers in art and technology, aesthetics, ontology, and the life sciences. It will also engage art practitioners in art and science, curators and researchers.