Bio-art: an unlikely symbiosis of science and art in the case of Maja Smrekar’s K- 9_topology

Bio-art, fostering connections between seemingly distant areas of science and art, has in recent years opened a myriad of new possibilities for artists. In ARTE_mis (2017), concluding part of her three-year-long artistic investigation K-9_topology (2014–2017), Slovenian transdisciplinary artist Maja Smrekar used her emptied reproductive cell as a host for a somatic cell of her dog Ava. The hybrid cell was preserved in liquid nitrogen to serve as a symbol of blurring the borders between human and nonhuman while questioning the Anthropocene. The purpose of this critical analysis is to unfold the multiple layers of the convivial relationship between art and science in the context of Smrekar’s K-9_topology, and investigate the ways in which their correlation emphasizes the activist component of the artwork. I argue that the juxtaposition of art and science fosters a unique type of socially engaged artwork, in which the medium is essential for conveying the activist message.