Abstract
As an innovative art phenomenon in the new century, bio-art has yet to receive in-depth academic exploration with regard to its presentations of the posthumanist view of “continuity” in life. First, the concept of continuity in bio-art is represented by life processes, inter-life, and Zoe. Second, practices in bio-art present a continuity between humans and non-humans, biological and digital entities, life and information, as well as living and non-living things, which redefines the essence of life and puts into practice a neo-vitalism. Third, the concept of continuity provides an ethical defense for the moral controversies triggered by bio-art. To spare animals from aesthetic manipulation means that humans are isolated from the natural world, as the value of animal life is embedded in its continuity with humans. Fourth, facing the challenge of the “disconnection theory” in posthumanist speculation, the concept of continuity in the nature of “human” and the essence of “posthuman” makes the “non-human” impossible.
Keywords
bio-art, post-human, continuity, disconnection
First Page
76
Last Page
88
Recommended Citation
Xu, Jie. 2025. "On the Concept of Continuity in Bio-Art." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 45, (5): pp.76-88. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol45/iss5/11
