Guy Ben-Ary

Guy Ben-Ary, is an Australian bio-artist and researcher specilizing in biotechnological art. Based in Perth, he has worked as a core researcher at SymbioticA, an artistic laboratory focused on the life sciences at the University of Western Australia. His work combines biological tissues, sound synthesis, and robotics to investigate themes related to life, consciousness, and identity.

Early life and education Guy Ben-Ary was born in 1967 in Los Angeles, California, and spent his early years in Israel. Ben-Ary's academic background includes studies in the humanities and law, which informed his interest in societal structures and ethics before his shft toward the life sciences. He attended the University of Western Australia (UWA), where he earned a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (LLB). Instead of pursuing a conventional legal career.

Career Guy Ben-Ary began his career working at the intersection of cybernetics, tissue engineering, and robotics within biological art. In 2001, he joined SymbioticA, the Centre of Excellence for Biological Arts at the University of Western Australia, as a core researcher and artist. His early work focused on the cultural implications of emerging biotechnologies, particularly the concept of "Iiminal life," referring to biological matter existing between living tissue and machine. Using collaborative approaches, his projects involved visualizing real-time data from neural networks by integrating them with robotic systems to interact with the physical environment.

Ben-Ary's artistic practice began with his participation in the Tissue Culture and Art Project from 1999 to 2003, collaborating with artists Oron Catts and lonat Zurr. His work involves using biological laboratory techniques such as tissue culture, tissue engineering, electrophysiology, and microscopy as part of his artistic process. His work addresses themes at the intersection of art and science, including life and death, cybernetics, and artificial life. He employs biotechnologies in a manner intended to challenge conventional perspectives, presenting scenarios that aim to provoke public discussion on emerging biotechnologies. Ben-Ary's early projects include Fish and Chips (2001), MEART (2001–2005), Silent Barrage (2009–2013), and In-Potentia (2013–2017). These works involved the cultivation of in-vitro neural networks, sometimes described as "brains," grown on specialized electrophysiological interfaces and integrated with robotic systems.

In 2015, Ben-Ary presented cellF, described as a neural synthesiser and a significant work in biological art. The project explores "in-vitro intelligence" by connecting biological neural networks, grown from reprogrammed skin cells, with robotic and electronic systems. The cultured network of neurons functions as an external, in-vitro "brain." In February 2020, Ben-Ary, together with Nathan Thompson and scientist Sebastian Diecke, presented Bricolage, a performative biological kinetic installation. Produced by the Perth International Arts Festival in collaboration with the SymbioticA Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts at the University of Western Australia, the installation features living microscopic biological automatons capable of real-time movement, self-assembly, and manipulation. These structures were created by repurposing white blood cells from anonymous donors using induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, differentiating them into twitching cardiomyocytes, and culturing them on custom three-dimensional silk scaffolds.

In 2023, Guy Ben-Ary's Mucic for Surrogate Performer was commissioned by the Venice Biennale as a biomusic project exploring postmortem identity and biological agency. Developed with collaborators Nathan Thompson, Darren Moore, Andrew Fitch, and neuroscientist Stuart Hodgetts, the work involved collaboration with composer Alvin Lucier, who donated blood cells prior to his death. Using iPSC technology, these cells were reprogrammed into a living neural network on a microchip. This biological network functions as a "surrogate performer," replacing the live human performer in Lucier's 1965 piece Music for Solo Performer. Custom software translates the neural activity into real-time control of percussive instruments. The installation was featured as part of the 2025 exhibition Revivification at the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Guy Ben-Ary presented Revivification in April 2025, an immersive bio-art sound installation at the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA). Developed over six years by the Revivification Collective, which includes Ben-Ary, artists Nathan Thompson and Matt Gingold, and neuroscientist Stuart Hodgetts, the installation expands on themes from the 2023 piece Music for Surrogate Performer. It explores biological agency, artificial intelligence, and the preservation of creative legacy after death.

Awards and honors • VIDA International Competition for Art and Artificial Life (2009): First prize for the robotic installation Silent Barrage, co-created with Phil Gamblen and the SymbioticA Research Group.

• Japan Media Arts Festival (2021): Award of Excellence in the Art Division for Bricolage.

• Falling Wall Award (2024): Global winner in the Art & Science category.