MONSTERS, MODEL ORGANISMS AND MODELS - A perspective from Art & Science

A model organism is used to gain knowledge of other organisms, or as a standardized control for other similar organisms of the same species. This idea is based on the mid-19th century research and interests, e.g., by Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel focusing on natural selection and heredity , and later, on the development of genetics.

In their philosophical inquiry into biology and specifically the concept of the model organism, scholars Ankeny and Leonelli define model organisms as “non-human species that are extensively studied to understand a range of biological phenomena. The hope is that data and theories generated through use of the model will be applicable to other organisms, particularly those that are in some way more complex than the original model, especially humans.” (Ankeny & Leonelli 2020)

The recent decades of development in synthetic biology, biotechnology and artificial intelligence have impacted our understanding of the world, natural environment, and biodiversity. These developments have also changed what kinds of visions and expectations we have of the future. For example, we are constructing new types of living organisms that are no longer evolved in the ‘wild’ but are human designed through technoscientific methods, such as gene editing and modifications. At the same time, we are developing increasingly intelligent and automated systems with hardware technology, both in the online environment and embedded into hardware creatures.

The existing, relatively limited, number of species that are today listed as model organisms have been used for advancing our understanding of genetics and development of the modification and manipulation methods. The concept of a model organism has been central part of specific scientific research and approaches with a starting point on biologically evolved (not human controlled) organisms.

In this paper the focus will be on philosophical and artistic perspectives. One can ponder what would be a model organism for gene modified or completely constructed organisms? Underlying this question is a vision of our planet’s future hosting a growing number of organisms that have not evolved in the ‘wild’ but have been human created, often with economic interests. This points to a lurking dystopian idea of these constructed organisms and systems running wild and taking over – as well as mutating while fitting into their environment and merging with the ‘wild’ ones. It is obvious that we can no longer easily recognize the artificially constructed organisms from the ‘wild’ ones. As the concept of model organism is tightly connected to the ‘original and grown-in-the-wild’ organisms – is there a need to redefine its idea and use? What does art have to say about model organisms?

The paper presents few diverse artistic experiments (including the author’s) in envisioning our everyday environment with intelligent systems and constructed creatures. These creatures can be seen as artificial entities, or, could they potentially represent newly forming contemporary archetypes?