Perspectives of bioartists and community lab organizers on working with living organisms

Abstract

There is increasing interest within the HCI community about work-ing with living organisms in the design of interactive systems. Bioartists and community lab participants have worked with living organisms for decades. Their motivations for doing so include artis-tic expression, design innovation, and activism. We interviewed 12 artists, community lab organizers, and researchers who work with or facilitate work with living organisms. Participants expressed per-spectives on working with living organisms and described bioart as an efective practice for engaging and informing the public, fos-tering transdisciplinary collaborations, and facilitating inspiration and learning from organic processes. They also discussed ques-tions of agency and consent, among other ethical issues in this context. Based on our fndings, we present future directions to in-vestigate the potential of hybrid living media interfaces to engage and educate human users, open up possibilities for transdisciplinary collaborations, and participate in ethical dialogues on emerging technologies in a new way.