Recollections of a Collective Undertaking

In this paper, we reflect on over fifteen years of transdisciplinary practice by Arte+Ciencia (A+C) and its affiliated artistic collective, Bios ex Machina, based at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The essay traces the group’s evolution from early explorations in bioart, centered on genetic modification and laboratory aesthetics, to a broader investigation into the shifting presence of nature within urban environments, particularly in Mexico City. Grounded in historical and theoretical analysis, our study examines how A+C has navigated the intersections of art, science, and the humanities to critically engage with the biological episteme, epigenetics, and the complex boundaries between nature and culture. Through exhibitions, public interventions, and collaborative research, the collective has cultivated a responsive, community-based methodology that adapts to emerging questions and contexts. Focusing on A+C work in Cantera Oriente—a site within the Reserva Ecológica del Pedregal de San Ángel (REPSA)—we investigate how nature persists, transforms, and resists within the urban fabric of a megalopolis. Cantera Oriente serves as a case study of the “return of the natural” in contemporary Mexican artistic practices, prompting critical reflection on the forms of life that endure amid environmental, cultural, and political pressures. We argue for an expanded conception of life and nature shaped by transdisciplinary arts and science practices that are capable of opening new modes of perception and resistance in the urban Anthropocene.