Bioism is an artistic, philosophical, and ethical approach that proposes the creation and aesthetics of new non-suffering life forms and value systems based on biological thinking. Initiated and constantly developed by the artist
Aljoscha, it extends biological principles into aesthetics, speculative ethics, and the philosophy of
paradise engineering.
At its core, bioism imagines life not as it is expected to be — but as it could evolve. It treats mutation, deviation, and morphological uncertainty not as pathological anomalies — but as the raw material of an evolution and humanoid creation. These principles are visualized through installations, sculptures and interventions that resemble highly mutative, quasi-alien life forms — often suspended, translucent, or seemingly breathing and thinking.
Ethical issues and
transhumanism
Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...
Bioism is rooted in an ethical framework informed by
bioethics
Bioethics is both a field of study and professional practice, interested in ethical issues related to health (primarily focused on the human, but also increasingly includes animal ethics), including those emerging from advances in biology, me ...
,
sentientism
Sentientism (or sentiocentrism) is an ethical view that places sentient individuals at the center of moral concern. It holds that both humans and other sentient individuals have interests that must be considered. Gradualist sentientism attribute ...
, and
paradise engineering — the speculative idea that suffering could be reduced or eliminated through advanced sciences, such as
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
and
neuroethics
In philosophy and neuroscience, neuroethics is the study of both the ethics of neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience concerns the ethical, legal, and social impact of neuroscience, including the ways in which ne ...
. Aesthetic invention becomes — within bioism — a form of ethical speculation: a way to model empathy, divergence, and care for life yet to come. Though speculative in its statement, bioism engages directly with real-future questions in
biotechnology
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...
,
neuroethics
In philosophy and neuroscience, neuroethics is the study of both the ethics of neuroscience and the neuroscience of ethics. The ethics of neuroscience concerns the ethical, legal, and social impact of neuroscience, including the ways in which ne ...
, and
ecological philosophy. It offers no stable answers — only acceleration of evolving forms and chances.
Artistic practice
Bioism has been manifested across a range of public, academic, and clinical spaces — including war zones, universities, schools and hospitals — often in direct dialogue with trauma and healing. One of its most significant projects, ''Khēmia of Ma’at'' (2025,
Yermilovcentre,
Karazin University,
Kharkiv
Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine. ), was permanently installed during ongoing shelling alarms — merging metaphysical reflection with scientific heritage.
Bioist's works do not represent existing organisms — they propose entirely new forms of life. Untethered from taxonomy and freed from reproductive logic, these forms evoke embryology, microbiology, synthetic neurology, and speculative xenobiology. The goal is not to imitate biology — but to extend and multiply it.
Contemporary artists working with similar ideas
* Reiner Maria Matysik — explores future organisms, biofuturism, and transbiological evolution
*
Stelarc
Stelarc (born Στέλιος Αρκαδίου ''Stelios Arcadiou'' in 1946; legally changed his name in 1972) is a Cyprus-born Australians, Australian performance artist raised in the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, Victoria, Sunshine, whose works ...
— integrates the human body with cybernetic and artificial prosthetics
*
Eduardo Kac
Eduardo Kac (born July 3, 1962) is a Brazilian and American contemporary artist whose portfolio encompasses various forms of art including performance art, poetry, holography, interactive art, digital and online art, and BioArt. Recognized for h ...
— pioneer of transgenic and telepresence art
* Oron Catts & Ionat Zurr (
SymbioticA
SymbioticA is an artistic research lab at the University of Western Australia's School of Anatomy and Human Biology."Culture: Art That Touches a Nerve." Anthony King. Nature 470, 334 (17 February 2011) doi:10.1038/470334a The lab looks at bio ...
) — create semi-living tissue-based artworks
*
Anna Dumitriu — works with bacteria, genetics, and medical technologies in art
* Marta de Menezes
— alters living organisms through bio-artistic processes
*
Heather Dewey-Hagborg — creates DNA-based portraits and critiques genetic determinism
References
{{reflist
Art concepts
Philosophical concepts