BIOMEDIA’S CONVERGENCE IN BIOART

This study examines what meaning biomedia used in bioart has in the context of media. First, we look at the terms that have been discussed in the art world during last 30 years, such as media, new media, media-specificity, post-media condition, and more, which have been used with the change of contemporary art media, and afterwards, we examine the meaning of biomedia within these terms. The interdisciplinary, integrative feature of biomedia, which uses biological media, digital computer technology, and art media, can be explained with the “principle of convergence.” The convergence of biology, digital technology, and art media, which are at the level of physical and hardware layer (wetware), code-logical and software layer (dryware), and cultural contents layer (meaningware), is actually occurring within the work of bioart. The convergence of three layers implies that all of the significations that are connoted in each layer are combined together in bioart. The phenomenon of media convergence used in bioart reveals how bioartist’s works, which combine living media with various technologies, critically reveal the issues and the ideologies surrounding bio-engineering.