Abstract

Biomedia and imaging practices have an important role to play in the representation, construction and generation of life and liveliness. Living Viral Tattoos is a research-creation project that reflects on tissue culture engineering practices of imaging cellular life in the laboratory. Various media art works created as part of the research conducted while culturing cells in the laboratory are referred to as "bioremediale images". The concept of bioremediality is proposed to reconsider biomedia and images as biosubjects in an era of global risk culture. The multi-dimensionality and liveliness of bioremediale images is situated as a (bio)remediation of images, materials, human and non-human entities across artistic and scientific processes. This dissertation proposes that an expanded range of literacy across the fields of media arts and life sciences is necessary to perceive and "read" images of life and liveliness.