The Tissue Culture and Art Project (initiated in 1996), is an on-going artistic research and development project into the use of tissue technologies as a medium for artistic expression. Tissue engineering holds much promise for improving the quality of human life. However, tissue engineering for artistic purposes has largely been overlooked. In the last four years, our group has been applying tissue-engineering principles for the purpose of artistic expression. We have grown tissue sculptures,"semi-living" objects, by culturing cells on artificial scaffolds in bioreactors. Ultimately, the goal of this work is to culture and sustain, for long periods, tissue constructs of varying geometrical complexity and size, and by that creating a new artistic palette. A unique set of issues and problems has arisen because these living-cell tissue constructs will not be transplanted into the body. Some of the problems concern the practicalities of the procedure itself, while the acquisition of living cells for artistic purposes has created concerns and has focused attention on the ethical and social implications of creating "semi-living objects". Thus our goal is to create a contestable vision of futuristic objects that are partly artificially constructed and partly grown/born. These semi-living objects consist of both synthetic materials and living biological matter from complex organisms. These entities (sculptures) blur the boundaries between what is born/manufactured, animate/inanimate and further challenge our perceptions and our relations toward our bodies and constructed environment.

Oron Catts Born in Finland, lived in Israel and Australia. Currently a research fellow at the Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Director of SymbioticA: The Art & Science Collaborative Studio, Department of Anatomy & Human Biology, the University of Western Australia. Worked as a part time lecturer as Curtin University School of Design. Covered areas such as creative thinking and eco-design. Trained in product design, and specialized in the future interaction of design and biological derived technologies.

Ionat Zurr Born in England, lived in Israel and Australia. Currently a research fellow at the Tissue Engineering and Organ Fabrication Lab, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Studied photography and media studies, specializing in biological and digital imaging, as well as video production.

Guy Ben-Ary Born in USA, lived in Israel and Australia. Currently living and working in WA. Manager of the Image Analysis and Acquisition Facility (IAAF), Department of Anatomy and Human Biology, UWA. Director of SymbioticA: The Art & Science Collaborative Studio, Department of Anatomy & Human Biology, the University of Western Australia. Specializing in microscopy and biological imaging. Trained in programming and web development. Graduated the Tel Aviv University Law School.