DNAid: Billboards
Haluk Akakçe, Nancy Burson, Alexis Rockman
September 5-30, 2000
Intersection of Varick and Carmine streets; intersection of Canal and Church streets; intersection of Lafayette and Houston streets
Photo © 2000 CharlieSamuels.com
In conjunction with DNAid Creative Time presented a month-long outdoor exhibition of three artist-designed billboards that addressed the implications of genetic research.
Alexis Rockman’s The Farm depicted the transformation of agriculture as a result of genetic engineering. Progressing from right to left, Rockman painted images of species of plants and animals as they currently look, and then visualized what they could possibly become in a future determined by genetic engineering—chickens with six legs, square tomatoes, and pigs bred for organ transplants. The text “How’s life on the farm?” accompanied the images.
Nancy Burson’s Photoshopped work morphed an image of a woman’s face “evolving” through five different races juxtaposed with the text: “There’s no gene for race.” Burson’s billboard, entitled Five Images from the Human Race Machine, atempted to dispel the notion that race is not a genetically determined fact, but rather a political and social construct.
Finally, Haluk Akakçe’s billboard presented a digital still from his video The Measure of All Things. Accompanied by the provocative question “Are we ready?” the video-still depicted a double helix spiraling upwards towards the city skyline, representing Akakçe’s view of the future of technology.