Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This is a very inspiring book. An excellent and complete overview of how genetic research is permeating popular culture, of how the gene has become a powerful and pervasive icon with a social meaning that goes beyond its biological properties.
This is an excellent volume for those who are interested in the regular shifts of boundaries between the domains of art and science. The authors explore the rise of an increasingly important new trend in contemporary art involving science by documenting the ideas and images that artists are using in association with the genetic view of life. They underline and provide insight into the social and cultural meaning of genetic research and of genetic essentialism through contemporary artists' interpretation of scientific process. In its well odered and relevantly different sections, Suzanne Anker and Dorothy Nelkin touch upon topics such as the sequencing of the genome and the reduction of humans to 'molecularl texts', the concept of identity, genetic engineering, the creation of transgenics and chimeras, assisted reproduction and cloning.
It is thorough work and well written, with the necessary historical references. A continuous, witty, appropriate and precise account of the questions, concepts, ideas and images fluctuating between the realm of science and that of art. I highly recommend it. A very good buy.
Giovanni Frazzetto (Molecular Biologist, Writer)
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The gene has become a cultural icon and an increasingly rich source of imagery and ideas for visual artists. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary painting and sculpture, The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age explores the moral and bioethical questions these works address. What does it mean to be human? What is "identity" in a society of genetically manipulated individuals? Questions like these are growing louder as genetic technology advances and the public examines the ethical consequences more widely. Suzanne Anker and Dorothy Nelkin, an artist and a social scientist, have written a thought-provoking and visually fascinating book for scientists, artists, students, and general readers intrigued by the anxiety and exhilaration of the genetic age.
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