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AB GENERAL ARTICLE RI TO L AO NG Chimera Contemporary: DY The Enduring Art of the Composite Beast ABSTRACT

The author examines the history of artists’ depictions of Dave Powell fanciful organisms that are formed by combining parts of various species. Broadly tracing the progression of this pursuit from prehistory through the Ancient, Renaissance and Romantic Periods and up to the 20th century and contemporary he aesthetic of the composite animal form has the different branches are gov- T genetic art, the article analyzes been a persistent presence from the primordial depths of erned by distinctly different genetic the seemingly consistent effort human culture to the present dawn of the genetic age. codes. to render these forms simultane- Throughout the course of history, whenever artists have ren- ously nonthreatening or vulnera- dered subjects by melding the physiology of different species, ble in attitude and visually HIMERIC ENDITIONS realistic. The author asks they have almost invariably utilized techniques to render the C R : NCIENT THROUGH whether this practice, which subject visually plausible and pseudo-realistic. Yet perhaps A seems to stem from aesthetic more importantly, chimerical creatures are also commonly CLASSICAL concerns, is sufficiently critical rendered as vulnerable: depicted in either playful or serene Some 10 to 15 millennia have in regards to current trends in genetic engineering. poses, in a state of dying or suffering defeat, or as simply nonag- passed since the stag-antlered, tail- gressive. The consistent recurrence of the synthetic modifica- sporting “Sorcerer” was painted on tion of natural fauna bears witness to the apparent utility of the wall at Trois-Freres, and though this aesthetic endeavor, yet we must also recognize the self- conjecture regarding the image as depicting a shaman in rit- imposed guidelines within which artists have created such ual garb is reasonable, there can be no concrete evidence that works. the artist did not intend to render a chimera or creature un- Due to the evolution of the word chimera, it is necessary to dergoing an interspecies metamorphosis. Importantly, the clarify the difference between its meanings. The (capitalized) handful of cave-painted images depicting human beings were proper name from which chimera is derived is mythological, almost invariably executed with a marked lack of realism, fail- the classical Chimera being the fire-spouting monster said to ing to exhibit the same level of naturalistic proportion and have terrorized the Lycians of Asia Minor before being slain pose often invested in depicting other species. Furthermore, by the young, unwitting Bellerophon. This composite beast in addition to the partial animalism of this particular subject possessed a goat’s body, the head of a lion and a serpent’s tail (oftentimes this is depicted as a serpent-headed tail, and the designation serpent properly refers to a dragon’s physiology Fig. 1. Pheidias (attributed), Centauromachy, detail from the rather than to that of a snake). Although I do not use it di- Parthenon’s southern metopes, Pentelic marble, approx. 120 125 rectly in this article, the popular secondary definition of cm, ca. 445 B.C. A Lapithian warrior gains a seemingly unlikely chimera (as it has existed for centuries) is “an illusion or fabri- upper hand in combat versus his centaur foe. (Public domain image cation of the mind; especially: an unrealizable dream” [1]. It courtesy of the Art Images for College Teaching [AICT] web site: is not, however, without a dab of intentional authorial irony .) that I chose the title of this article for precisely the contextual connotation of the word’s secondary meaning. The contemporary scientific meaning of chimera is rather specific and is intimately related to genetic criteria. To sum up, technically speaking, a chimera is any organism that in- corporates discrete populations of cells with different genomes (whether within the whole of the organism or merely a con- stituent part thereof). A simple example would be a lemon tree with the bough of a lime tree grafted to the stock; once the graft has taken, the tree is indeed one living organism, yet

Dave Powell (artist), 2013 Yale Avenue, Dunedin, FL 34698, U.S.A. E-mail: .

Article Frontispiece. Joshua Levine, Dock, ﬂexible polyurethane foam, 2002. (© Joshua Levine. Photo © David Powell). The artist deliberately fashioned his creations out of pink and yellow thermal foam to make them seem less threatening.

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AB RI TO seeming to free the artist to work with Ancient Egyptian art frequently cou- portion, perspective and other devices L some level of visual objectivity, this theri- pled the head of one species with the contemporary to the period (less so the AO NG anthropic figure does not seem to be im- body of another (one part or the other proportions of the monumental Sphinx DY bued with any intentional sense of often being human). Whether in the at Giza, most likely due to the limitations menace (as are some of the other ani- tomb paintings of the jackal-headed Anu- of the natural outcrop of stone). mals; for instance, charging bulls) but is bis, or upon the numerous sculptural Particularly when representing a po- posed in either a dancing or fleeing sphinxes, to the best of our knowledge tential therianthropic proportional mis- stance while making eye contact with the the artists utilized the most realistic tech- match (e.g. humaniform deities like viewer. Relatively speaking, the image (al- niques of depiction available to them at ibis-headed Thoth and hippopotamus- beit an imaginative construct) is exe- the time of execution (albeit with some headed Taweret), Egyptian artists took cuted with a high level of visual notable, and likely stylistically inten- pains to fit the head onto the dispropor- verisimilitude to actual organisms, while tional, exceptions). Despite the seem- tionately sized host body. Furthermore, the seemingly nonthreatening posture ingly fanciful content, the resultant whereas actually encountering a living was probably intentional. figures exhibit a masterful usage of pro- creature with the body of a human and the head of a crocodile or asp would likely be quite horrifying, the Egyptian subjects do not seem to be depicted in an Fig. 2. William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Nymphs and Satyr, oil on canvas, 260 180 cm, 1873. overtly threatening manner; deities were The painting features a reticent chimerical male figure at the center of four females’ de- shown busily engaged in ritual proces- sirous attention, executed with a high degree of realistic finish. (Image appears courtesy of sions, and sphinxes were posed placidly. Carol L. Gerten-Jackson’s CGFA web site: .) Again, chimerical realism is coupled with an apparent lack of danger; in the rare instance when the subject appears threatening, realism is quickly abandoned (e.g. fratricidal Seth, the chaotic-evil slayer of Osiris, was “portrayed as a man with a head of undeterminable origin ...He had a curved snout, erect square-tipped ears and a long forked tail” [2]). The Greeks continued this exploration while abandoning exclusively therianthropic themes and the nonaggressive nature of other depictions of chimeras. Some mythological creatures melded parts of two different nonhuman creatures, such as the winged horse Pegasus; some repeated the natural organs of one species, such as the three-headed dog Cerberus; others were the synthesis of numerous beasts, such as the griffon, which possessed a leonine body, a scorpion’s tail and an eagle’s wings and talons; still others incorporated wholly mythical features, as in the various creatures with draconic organs. Again artisans frequently depicted these imaginative constructs utilizing the most advanced rendering techniques for achieving realism. The most famous example might be the Parthenon’s southern metopes depicting the Centauromachy, where the Lapiths are portrayed in heated combat with their half-equine foes; both parties exhibit such physiological and kines- thetic believability that these works are frequently included in the curricula of foundation art history courses as prime examples of High Classical Greek realism (Fig. 1). Granted, the composite beasts of Greek mythology are often flagrantly ag- gressive, but notably, these baneful creatures are almost invariably defeated at the hands of a noble hero. Whether visually depicted on an Attic black-figure am-

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AB RI The upheaval accompanying the 20th TO century, particularly as brought about by L AO both world wars, likewise triggered a shift NG in the depiction of chimera. In fact, con- DY trary to the vulnerable nature of the composite beast as seen throughout the historical course of Western art, the new chimera took on a seemingly invul- nerable, juggernaut-like countenance. Whether it is Picasso’s numerous mino- taurs (particularly the seemingly human- eyed bull of Guernica), or Max Ernst’s frequent depiction of bird-headed and other demihumanoid creatures, these subjects either are threatening or else bear witness to that which is gruesome (e.g. the carnage of total war). Salvador Dalí is also noteworthy for his indulgence of weird biological constructs. It is, however, notable that this shift from classical harmlessness or vulnerability to passively or even actively threatening chimeric subject matter is accompanied by a marked departure from realistic rendering. Even with that said, some of the subjects remain quite vincible, as in Picasso’s drawing Minotaur and Woman (1933).

ART BASEL: CONTEMPORARY CHIMERA MADE MANIFEST In December 2002 I attended the pre- Fig. 3. Erick Swenson, Edgar, mixed media, 60 48 108 inches, 1997. (© Erick Swenson. mier of Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB). Photo © David Powell.) Fixed in a hostile arctic setting with a tear falling from its eye, the While repeatedly and thoroughly can- creature combines a powerful presence with vulnerability. vassing more than 160 gallery booths, I began to notice a trend tangentially related to my own work as an artist. A num- phora or described in myths, evil crea- in its near-intentional illustration of ber of galleries had chosen to highlight tures are often hero-fodder in Greek Freudian sublimation. Though sexy, Vic- artists whose work consisted of chimeri- mythology—metaphoric constructs to il- torian satyrs were innocuous. cal composite forms, and in all cases lustrate how good inevitably overcomes Yet change was in the air, both socially these pieces were 3D. Granted, there evil. and in chimeric aesthetics. In fact, the were literally thousands of works of art at painter William-Adolphe Bouguereau ABMB, and perhaps it was merely aes- (with his unabashed love for nymphs, thetic over-stimulation that caused me to CHIMERIC PERSISTENCE satyrs and all manner of winged beings) focus on this particular theme, yet the re- AND RANSITIONS HE T : T was so reviled by Degas and other Proto- ciprocal effect of the prominent installa- RENAISSANCE THROUGH Modernists as being “one of the most tions of the numerous pieces, coupled MODERNISM prominent representatives of everything with the sheer power of the works, fo- All the numerous Western Classical re- [their] new movement opposed: high cused my attention on chimeras. vivals have featured a re-approach to the technical finish, narrative content, senti- The first piece I happened upon was morphology of chimeric forms. Exam- mentality and a reliance on tradition,” Erick Swenson’s Edgar (Fig. 3). Originally ples from the Renaissance include that they coined the term “‘Bougue- appearing in his solo installation Obvi- Michelangelo’s early Battle of the Centaurs reaute’ (Bouguereau-ized)” to denote ously a Movie at the Angstrom Gallery in (1492) (albeit rough and unfinished), “slick and artificial surfaced” (Fig. 2). Dallas, the 1997 mixed-media work is a through the repeated reworking of Bouguereau’s emphasis on technical ex- very realistic, “life-sized” sculpture of satyric themes in Titian’s Flaying of pertise is best expressed in his statement some sort of arctic dog-camel-goat hybrid Marsyas (1575–1576) and eventually “No greater misery can be conceived in an icy, frozen setting. The creature’s Rubens’s Bacchanalia (c. 1615). Again, than that experienced by the artist who tilted-head posture, coupled with the vis- chimerical figures are both delineated as feels the fulfillment of his dream com- ible tear running from its eye, connotes realistically as possible and represented promised by the impotence of his exe- an air of vulnerability and suggests an an- as vulnerable, imperiled or (though en- cution” [3]. This idea, coupled with his thropomorphic unhappiness. joying the fruits of passion) largely harm- enthusiasm for chimerical subjects in ide- In the Ambrosino Gallery’s booth less. Even the oft-touted repression of the alized pastoral settings, demonstrates an lurked six of Joshua Levine’s Dock sculp- Victorian era saw an open celebration of artistic intent to render fantasy life-forms tures (Article Frontispiece). The bright the satyric form, far surpassing irony as real and as palatable as possible. pink and yellow thermal foam creatures

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AB RI TO Jopling/White Cube booth. Marc L Quinn’s Kiss is a life-sized sculpture of AO NG actor-musician Mat Fraser and performer DY Catherine Long [6] (Fig. 5). In Kiss, executed in 2001 in pure white Macedonian marble, the one-armed Long kisses and returns the embrace of Fraser, a victim of thalidomide-induced “phocomelia, or ‘seal-like limbs’” [7]. Although this work does not strictly fall into the theme of this article, it does explore similar subject matter. On one hand, the subjects are real people, not fantasy beings; but by the same token, the forms the artist has chosen to depict are radically out of the norm, certainly not naturally occurring, which effectively triggers within the viewer the chimeric sememe (arms as ﬂip- pers). The intent of the piece relies heav- ily on the juxtaposition of a teratogenic alteration of the human body with a tran- scendental theme—in this case, love. It is Fig. 4. Bryan Crocket, Sloth, from the Seven Deadly Sins series, cultured marble, 19 13 12 exactly this theme that renders an other- inches, 2001. (© Bryan Crockett. Photo © David Powell. Courtesy of the artist and Lehmann wise potentially disturbing subject (i.e. se- Maupin Gallery, N.Y.) Based on mice and mole rats that were genetically engineered for purposes of research into human diseases, the sculpture is executed with extremely detailed vere disability, not disabled people making realism. love) not only agreeable but rather touch- ing. Both the materials and the pose are had originally been designed by building morphic form, there is no clear sense of intended to spur viewers to contemplate up (and paring down) taxidermy man- implied threat to the viewer. beauty, and many might ﬁnd the piece nequins, and in a later interview, Levine Another somewhat disconcerting reminiscent of the broken limbs of the related that he was concerned with ren- piece at ABMB was found in the Jay Venus de Milo. dering his creations “less threatening” [4]. In some sense (besides the playful colors), the timidity implied by their poses, coupled with their relatively small scale, served to ease the viewer, but the Fig. 5. Marc pieces have a certain creepiness not en- Quinn, Kiss, marble, 184 64 tirely offset by these qualities. 60 cm, 2001. Noted by many East Coast art insiders (© Marc Quinn. for stealing the 1997 Whitney Biennial Photo © David with his resin-dipped balloon sculpture, Powell. Image Bryan Crocket moved on to emphasize appears courtesy of Jay Jopling/ his conceptual concerns with the White Cube.) The Lehmann Maupin show “Cultured,” sculpture depicts which featured his Seven Deadly Sins se- a moment of ries. Executed in pink, cast-resin “ultra- tender intimacy, spurring empa- marble,” each of these sculptures of baby thetic viewers to mice and mole rats enlarged to about 12 look beyond the inches not only corresponds with one of subject’s thali- the aforementioned seven brands of domide-induced wickedness but also was inspired by mice “seal-like limbs” (phocomelia) and genetically “engineered for the study of reconsider their human diseases” [5]. On display at ideas of beauty. ABMB was Sloth (Fig. 4). Not only did the pink faux marble lend a sense of realism, but also the execution itself seemed a highly accurate depiction of the lab animals, including hairless skin-folds and whiskers. Again, though the creature’s form is clearly unnatural, the thalidomide- induced foreshortened limbs and infan- tile, sleepy expression are disarming. Implied is a conceptual, ethical threat (humanity exploiting animals for our own well-being), yet despite the tera-

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AB RI empathy for the subjects, in spite of their TO unnatural forms. L AO As my final example from ABMB, I cite NG what I found to be the most powerful and DY disturbing work of art in the entire show (incidentally, a true chimera). Consisting of the taxidermic grafting of a Doberman pinscher’s head onto a piebald, bovine calf’s body, Thomas Grünfeld’s Misfit (Dobermann/Calf ) is also life-sized (Fig. 6). Although I noticed seams upon closer in- spection during my second viewing, my initial encounter with the piece was shocking due to the sense of realism the piece evoked. It is not just that the sculpture is constructed from real hide and fur, but also that it is set in a subtly naturalistic, relaxed pose. Grünfeld has been making these “hybrids” for over 12 years, and though he has been creating fewer of them recently, the ones he does make are getting larger. There is a clearly scientific aspect to the work, yet the pieces also relate to more traditional media and Fig. 6. Thomas Grünfeld, Misfit (Dobermann/Calf), taxidermy, 35 120 80 cm, 1998. issues such as collage and synthesis. (© Thomas Grünfeld. Photo © David Powell.) A true chimera in the literal, scientific sense Again we come around to a central of the word, this piece exhibits a realism that is simultaneously disarming and alarming. concept: Convincing realism seems intimately related with the aesthetics of ren- It is important to note that none of the take particular care to render as overtly dering chimera. Yet it is also vital that we four aforementioned works of art are weak or vulnerable that which might usu- acknowledge the aspect of vulnerability technically chimeras (in the literal, sci- ally be considered monstrous or even (often seeming in direct proportion to entific sense of the word). A chimera is abominable. Instead of triggering horror the level of realism) with which artists al- not merely an artificial hybrid of two or- or disgust, one feels sympathy and even most instinctively imbue their creations. ganisms possessing genomic materials from two distinct species; the populations of the different cells must be separate and distinct. For instance, when the sci- Fig. 7. George entists who are busily working on xeno- Gessert, Mark transplantation finally achieve success at Tobey, streptocarpus replacing a human heart with one grown hybrid 1028, 2002. in a pig, the resultant person will indeed (© George be a true chimera. With that said (and Gessert) George Gessert writes, noting that although it is not clear, Swen- “As for techniques son’s Edgar may well have been meant to of breeding, I don’t be some sort of grafted composite crea- do anything more ture), the spirit of chimeric intent is evi- complicated than line breeding ...I dent in all these works. For instance, do some interspe- Levine revealed to me that he uses parts cific crosses, but from different animals to construct his with plants that’s creatures, and in his recent one-man often extremely show at New York’s LUXE Gallery [8] the easy” [22]. “grafting” of pigs’ feet onto his spindly- legged golems is fairly evident. Thus, the literal differentiation between true chimera and genetic hybridization be- comes one of scientific terminology and not so much an aesthetic consideration (in fact, I find it unlikely that most of these artists know the taxonomic difference). What I find most significant about these works is that in creating and depicting these subjects (Edgar and Dock being fanciful, Sloth and Kiss being based on actual living organisms), the artists

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AB RI TO breeding plants since the late 1970s L (though he did not begin showing them AO NG until around 1985) [12] (Fig. 7). In the DY early 1990s, Andrea Zittel garnered ac- claim for her chicken breeding units (originally she dabbled with quail and houseﬂies as well) [13]. Of particular note is Brandon Ballengee, who works with frogs; his most recent and ongoing endeavor is the “back-breeding” of a particular species of frog (Hymenochirus curtipes) that has apparently changed since its original biological documentation and may well be extinct in its native range of the Congo [14] (Fig. 8). Besides docu- mentary photographs, drawings and writ- ten text about the frogs, the artist states that he has exhibited multiple generations of the living Hymenochirus frogs. I consider them to be the actual artworks. Each genera- Fig. 8. Brandon Ballengee, Hymenochirus species morph, from the series “Species Reclamation tion is stylistically different just as each via Non-Linear Genetic Timeline: An Attempted Hymenochirus Curtipes Model Induced by individual animal is unique and should Controlled Breeding,” 1999–present day. (© Brandon Ballengee) be viewed simultaneously as a living creature and a work of art [15].

Utilizing more technologically sophis- Although the works at ABMB were defi- perimentation led to the creation of en- ticated approaches to genetic manipula- nitely disturbing on some level, one also tirely new breeds, “honored in 1936 with tion are artists like David Kremers, who sensed that the artists actively avoided the only exhibition of live plants ever pre- has modified E. coli bacteria in order to being off-putting. Quite unlike the artists sented at the Museum of Modern Art”) produce the various pigmentation effects who utilized chimera in the early 20th [11], most of the early 20th century saw he uses in his paintings. Another is Ed- century, who seemed intent on using little dabbling in the actual creation of uardo Kac, who gained fame (in some cir- chimeric forms to actively agitate and re- altered and composite life forms. Besides cles, infamy) for his GFP Bunny project—a pulse the audience (while somewhat dis- the fact that much of the technology had rabbit containing the green florescent tancing the viewer with the techniques of yet to be invented, it is commonly ac- protein gene, the insertion of which is abstraction), today’s artists seem intent cepted that the Nazi obsession with eu- often utilized in standard laboratory re- on connecting the viewers with their genics squelched all interest in search [16]. French authorities, however, alien constructs through the methods of genetics-related work in the postwar art have been disinclined to release the ani- convincing authenticity and empathetic world. Perhaps inevitably, however, the mal into his care, and while Kac claims he identification. last decades leading up to the opening of simply wishes to bring Alba (as she is the new millennium witnessed an alto- named) home to Chicago to integrate her gether new phenomenon. Artists (not into his loving home, the French powers- NEXT STEP: farmers, breeders or fanciers) engaged that-be cannot seem to come to any con- THE BREATH OF LIFE in the literal realization of the inten- crete solution as to how to proceed. Until the 20th century, artists’ efforts at tional, physical alteration of living or- Among the most interesting (and po- synthesizing composite creatures were ganisms for purely aesthetic purposes. It tentially frightening) gene-splicing artists limited solely to the plastic arts of paint- was certainly not a case of time healing is Joe Davis. With high-tech themed work ing, drawing, sculpture and such. The eugenic wounds so much as the gradual ranging from beaming the encoded early part of the last century saw the yet unrelenting progress of pertinent sci- vaginal contractions of ballerinas into breakthrough utilization of actual living entific breakthroughs (e.g. “test-tube ba- space, through the creation of an audi- organisms in various art installations. In bies,” Dolly the cloned sheep, the tory microscope that listens to the move- 1934, Philip Johnston’s America Can’t Human Genome Project, etc.). ments of tiny animals, to the fabrication Have Housing featured live cockroaches As humanity has likely been selectively of nano-scale fishing gear for protozoan at New York’s Museum of Modern Art breeding plants and animals for purely angling, Davis’s work is difficult to sell, so [9], and Dalí included 200 live snails in aesthetic reasons since prehistory, most much so that the artist teeters occasion- his now infamous Taxi Pluvieux (Rainy of the techniques utilized by today’s ge- ally on the edge of literal homelessness. Taxi) in the 1938 Exposition Interna- netic artists in the quest for “high art” or- Ironically, quietly hammering away at the tionale du Surréalisme [10]. It is not, ganisms were invented before 1990. For life-as-art problem, he takes the title of however, merely the utilization of live or- the most part, the artists focusing on ma- the most highly reproduced artist of all ganisms in art that I am interested in (in nipulating the genetics of living organ- time. By inserting his “Microvenus” sym- itself, a topic worthy of more than a few isms fall into two primary categories: bol into e. coli bacteria and having them books), but the intentional manipulation low-tech breeding and high-tech gene incubate into the millions, copies of this of life-forms for aesthetic purposes. splicing. piece quite literally outnumber originals In fact, with the exception of Edward Examples of art-making breeders in- and reproductions of all other artists’ Steichen’s delphiniums (his artistic ex- clude George Gessert, who has been works combined.

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AB RI But the potentially alarming aspect of I found particularly interesting was when, breeding), but now have access to near TO Davis’s work (and perhaps that of other talking about Genesis, he mentioned cutting-edge technology in creating these L AO genetic artists as well) is best illustrated how the price of reconstructing the DNA works. NG in an anecdote regarding Davis’s idea for sequencing had dropped some 50% in 3. The proliferation of said technology DY a project that never came to fruition. merely a few years. Furthermore, with the and subsequent decline in cost will soon Learning of tiny geometric capsules of growing availability (and subsequent render these media available even to art amino acids called viral capsids, Davis price drop) of the required equipment, school students. thought to reconstruct Kepler’s nested he was hoping eventually to initiate a Ge- It seems a reasonable prediction that polyhedra, a product of the astronomer’s netic Art Department where he teaches, the age-old quest to create chimera shall circumscription of regular Platonic solids at the School of the Art Institute of not remain a fanciful artistic dream in an attempt to harmonize the orbits of Chicago (an idea which I found so ex- much longer. Artists are no longer our solar system. Finding researchers re- citing that I am hoping to eventually merely representing, imaging, portraying luctant to share their secrets with out- make a similar proposal to my own alma or rendering the creatures they imagine; siders, the artist has slowly built a rapport mater, the School of Visual Arts). they have actually begun to create them. with scientists from such places as Har- With all this in mind, there seem to be This is certainly a momentous develop- vard Medical School and MIT, who lend three relevant points: ment likely to have far-reaching conse- him assistance with his projects. When 1. Not only are artists working over quences, and these advances are to be he discussed his viral-capsid-nested- long periods with living organisms (in- considered gravely. polyhedra concept with a friendly genetic cluding complex life forms such as plants professional, Davis relates, “He pointed and chickens), but an increasing number out that I could inadvertently create a su- have also overcome early 20th-century A CAUTIONARY TALE pervirus.” Furthermore, the artist has the prejudices against said media to garner The original impetus for this article arose wherewithal and forthrightness to admit, success showing the work in galleries and from a synaptic correlation between a “I still come up with ideas that are dan- other forums. number of seemingly unrelated con- gerous and don’t realize that they are 2. Artists are no longer confined only cepts. Viewing the numerous chimeric dangerous” [17]. to more traditional forms of aesthetic works featured at ABMB, it occurred to Admittedly, the aforementioned artists modification of organisms (e.g. selective me that not only were the artists at- are not working with chimera proper. Al- though the GFP gene spliced into Kac’s bunny is from another species (a jellyfish), the tissue in question is not isolated and distinct but permeates the entire organ- Fig. 9. Bellerophon, Pegasus, and Chimaera (Wilhelm Tischbein, Sir William Hamilton’s Collection of Engravings from Antique Vases, Vol. I, pl. 1); Wilhelm Vollmer, Wörterbuch der ism (thus rendering a hybrid, not a Mythologie aller Völker (Stuttgart: Hoffmann’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1874). chimera). The same literal-definition re- striction applies to Davis, yet this could raise an interesting question about whether his creations are even hybrids, since the DNA segments he is inserting into microorganisms are original, and not taken from other preexistent species at all; likewise for another work of art by Kac. Originally (and arguably still) an “in- formation” artist working in such media as language, telecommunications and telepresence, Kac is the creator of Gene- sis, commissioned by Ars Electronica 1999 (the work is still showing and slated into 2005!). The artist translated a bibli- cal sentence into Morse code. (“Let man have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”) Subsequently, the message was encoded into a segment of DNA, and the genetic material then incorporated into bacteria that was exhibited in a viewer- interactive gallery setting. With intentional irony, the artist states that this particular passage “was chosen for what it implies about the dubious notion of di- vinely sanctioned humanity’s supremacy over nature” [18]. I was fortunate enough to meet Kac and hear him lecture at the University of Tampa in February 2003 [19]. One point

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AB RI TO tempting to make these pieces look “re- force for ensuring these matters are ad- 8. “Joshua Levine: trans_gen_ic,” LUXE Gallery, New L alistic,” but that they were also taking dressed in the public forum and not York, 10 September–11 October 2003. AO NG pains to render the subjects nonthreat- merely in closely guarded laboratories 9. Oron Catts, “The Art of the Semi-Living,” DY ening and even palatable. I thought the and behind the closed doors of corpo- . See also “The Tissue Culture and efforts seemed somewhat contradictory, rate boardrooms. In the meantime, we Art Project,” . and this caused me to recall Japanese ro- would do well to practice the same level 10. Christine de Ligniers, Review of Displaying the boticist Masahiro Mori’s theories re- of conscientious responsibility, unvar- Marvelous: Marcel Duchamp, Salvador Dali, and Surre- garding the “Uncanny Valley.” nished candor and openness of practice alist Exhibition Installations, by Lewis Kachur, ArtLab23, No. 1 (Spring 2002), . bots causing revulsion in humans, Mori’s traded company. 11. “Edward Steichen at the Whitney Museum,” Whit- theory states that as an automaton begins We might consider the mythical ney Museum of American Art, . ance and movement, the emotional re- jealousy of Proteus (incidentally, a shape- 12. George Gessert, “On Exhibiting Hybrids,” CIRCA sponse that is triggered peaks “shortly changer), the hero found himself pitted 90 (Winter 1999) Art Technology Supplement. Re- before one reaches a completely human against the Chimera. By seeking the as- produced on-line at . ‘look’ ...but then a deep chasm plunges sistance of Athena (Wisdom), the hero below neutrality into a strongly negative was able to secure Pegasus as a mount, 13. See . response before rebounding to a second which he then rode to confront the mon- 14. “Science and Art Join Forces in ‘Paradise Now,’” peak where resemblance to humanity is ster. Still, defeating his foe and ascend- readme issue #6,000,030, 31 October–6 November 2002. complete” [20]. In a nutshell, a robot is ing to a throne was not enough for the acceptable as long as it somewhat or com- ever-adventurous Bellerophon, who 15. “Species Reclamation via a Non-Linear Genetic Timeline: An Attempted Hymenochirus Curtipes pletely resembles a human, but in be- eventually decided to visit the gods them- Model Induced by Controlled Breeding,” Miller tween, looking closely but not exactly selves on Mount Olympus. Angered by Gallery, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, human is horrifying (a corpse, or worse the hero’s arrogance, Zeus sent a gadfly, PA, 25 October–13 December 2002, yet, a moving corpse, being the most re- which stung the illustrious warrior’s fly- pulsive). ing mount and sent the hero plummet- 16. Eduardo Kac, “GFP Bunny,” Leonardo 36, No. 1, 97–102 (2003). See also the artist’s web site, . brids) that closely resemble the “natural” life by letting him land on soft ground, 17. W. Wayt Gibbs, “Art as a Form of Life,” Scientific yet are also emotionally disarming (i.e. but for the remainder of his days, the American (April 2001). Reproduced on-line at pictured as vulnerable) is less likely to lonely, crippled Bellerophon wandered . in our species. Whereas a glowing bunny sus never returned [21]. 18. Eduardo Kac, “Transgenic Works,” . seem largely inoffensive, a feathered cat somewhere. 19. “Electronics Alive II,” lecture by Eduardo Kac at might cause the public (and politicians) the University of Tampa, Tampa, FL, U.S.A. (24 Feb- to think twice. Yet beyond the aesthetics, ruary 2003). References and Notes is there really a difference? 20. Dave Bryant, “The Uncanny Valley: Why Are That artists are now showing living or- 1. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary . Animals So Fascinating?” . aesthetic sensibility of human culture. As 2. “Seth,” from Encyclopedia Mythica . 21. Erez Lieberman, “Bellerophon,” from Encyclope- dia Mythica . dering chimera aesthetically palatable, tallulahs.com/b4.html>, Tallulahs Directory of Mas- ter Nude Paintings and Techniques. Article ex- 22. Personal correspondence with artist, 2 June 2003. artists are seemingly taking an instinctual cerpted from Fronia E. Wissman, Bouguereau (New defensive posture. Even in our idealism, York: Pomegranate Artbooks, 1996). perhaps we tentatively sense that this 4. From interview between artist Joshua Levine and newfound genetic-aesthetic freedom author David Powell in Miami Beach, December Manuscript received 14 July 2003. might render us not so much Pro- 2002. methean as potentially Pandoric van- 5. Ken Johnson, “Bryan Crocket: Cultured,” New York guards. In this age of increasing Times, 15 March 2002, Art in Review section. Dave Powell is a genetic artist based in Clear- water, Florida. Officially begun in 2000, his ecological awareness and animal rights it 6. “Marc Quinn,” from Indepth Arts News, . interbreeding of common domestic cats born consciously and wholeheartedly embrace with naturally occurring mutations (poly- the asking of these vital questions as part 7. Adam Woolf, “Life after Thalidomide,” Guardian Unlimited, 1 July 2001, SocietyGuardian.co.uk section, dactylism, dwarfism, taillessness, etc.). For of the greater art discourse. I would think . com> or write .

340 Powell, Chimera Contemporary

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