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contact:
malbon@vt.edu

Carol J. Manahan is a doctoral candidate in Interdisciplinary Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California, whose dissertation is titled "The Moral Economy of Corn: StarLink and the Ethics of Resistance" and considers the ethical dimensions of the controversy over genetic engineering in agriculture in light of traditions of resistance to colonial and corporate interventions in agriculture. In addition to the SBL, Carol is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Christian Ethics, and the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and has given presentations for each of these groups. She brings a background in art to her work in religious studies and discovered the artworks she'll be talking about in this presentation when she served as a tour guide for an exhibit called "Genesis: Contemporary Art Explores the Human Genome" at the Berkeley Art Museum in the fall of 2003.

Abstract: A number of contemporary artists are drawing on biblical texts not as material for illustration, nor even as resources for their own religious contemplation, but as problematic foundations for contemporary ethical reflection. Recent artworks responding to scientific advances provide several examples which rely on biblical quotation or interpretation to explore social tensions over prospects emerging from new genetic technologies. This paper presents contrasting works which alternately advocate and resist genetic engineering of microbes, plants, animals and humans. In "Genesis," Eduardo Kac translates and retranslates Genesis 1:28 to provide both a justification and a blueprint for modifying bacteria genetically. Kac extends his interpretation of Genesis in "The Eighth Day," in which he presents a clear-domed menagerie of transgenic bioluminescent plants and animals, as well as a "biobot," a robot which relies on biological activity of a colony of amoebas to determine its motion. The art collective Critical Art Ensemble performs "The Cult of the New Eve," which draws on biblical metaphor and apocalyptic language to provoke audience response to the "Second Genesis," in which humans replace religion with technological and biological control. Through web sites and documentation both Kac and CAE continue to develop their works and to make them available beyond the gallery or performance space. These works, and others which will be briefly mentioned, can provide resources not only for introductory biblical studies classes, but also for courses which link biblical study with ethics, bioethics, and environmental ethics.

2004, San Antonio


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