2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

To what extent does Patricia Piccinini challenge our perspective on the ethics of bioengineering?

Alongside the vulnerability and humanity of the transgenic creations, Piccinini expertly uses shock value. This media technique is used to provoke a strong immediate emotional response within the audience and is the reason these pieces were covered in the news so extensively, being labelled as “monstrous” and “unsettling” (Badham, 2017). In doing so, Piccinini has had momentous impact on the global art scene, not only being named the most popular contemporary artist of 2016 (Egan, 2017) but also having some of the most successful exhibitions in the world, an example of this is her exhibition ‘Consciousness’ held at the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil in Rio. This exhibition acquired over 8,430 visitors every day and was the most popular contemporary art show that year and the second most-visited exhibition of all time (Egan, 2017). Therefore, truly manifesting the monumental influence and impact Piccinini has in raising awareness and challenging perspective.

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