Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Stranger Visions, 2012–2013 and DNA Spoofing, 2013 10.04. – 03.05.2015 | Fotomuseum Winterthur

SITUATION #2

Sample 2, from Stranger Visions, 2012-2013 © Heather Dewey-Hagborg

Heather Dewey-Hagborg explores issues relating to genetic surveillance and proposes in response strategies of DNA obfuscation. At a time when ever more genetic information is being collected by the law enforcement and security industries and when the technology of DNA analysis is becoming widely accessible, the artist reveals how easy it is to gather strangers’ DNA and produce a probable likeness. Dewey-Hagborg’s 3-D printed masks offer a form of post-photographic portraiture, an uncanny facsimile constructed from freely gathered human hereditary material. Her work raises political concerns related to the use of forensic DNA phenotyping and the reliability of its physical results. Should we now be legislating for biological privacy?


More by Heather Dewey-Hagborg: deweyhagborg.com, biononymous.me