Heather Dewey-Hagborg
Stranger Visions
Hours and dates
- From 1 Nov 2018 to 4 Nov 2018 / from 10:00 to 18:00
The place
Galerie du Beffroi
About
Heather Dewey-Hagborg
Heather Dewey-Hagborg is a transdisciplinary artist and educator who is interested in art as research and critical practice. Her controversial biopolitical art practice includes the project "Stranger Visions" in which she created portrait sculptures from analyses of genetic material (hair, cigarette butts, chewed up gum) collected in public places. Heather has shown work internationally at events and venues including the World Economic Forum, Shenzhen Urbanism and Architecture Biennale, the New Museum, the Centre Pompidou and PS1 MOMA. Her work has been widely discussed in the media, from the New York Times and the BBC to TED and Wired. Heather has a PhD in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is an affiliate of Data & Society.
Medias
Stranger Visions
In Stranger Visions Heather collected hairs, chewed up gum, and cigarette butts from the streets, public bathrooms and waiting rooms of New York City. She extracted DNA from them and analyzed it to computationally generate 3D printed life size full color portraits representing what those individuals might look like, based on genomic research. Working with the traces strangers unwittingly left behind, the project was meant to call attention to the developing technology of forensic DNA phenotyping, the potential for a culture of biological surveillance, and the impulse towards genetic determinism.
The forecast of Stranger Visions came true. Just 2 years later Parabon NanoLabs launched a service they called DNA "snapshot" to police around the US. For more examples see Identitas and read about their collaboration with the Toronto police. Since this time, Heather have devoted critical efforts to discussing the limitations and bias in phenotyping technology, which she (and many scientists) does not consider accurate or impartial enough for use in criminal investigations.
This work was created with the support of Eyebeam and the mentorship of Genspaceand NYU's Advanced Media Studio. It is in the collection of the Centre Pompidou and private collections worldwide.
Medias
