conVerge - Genomics - Justine Cooper

Genomics - Justine Cooper

Management of genetic information is a key issue currently facing human society. Recombinant genetics is one of the most dramatic technological developments/new phenomena to date in the area of biotechnology. New techniques for identifying and manipulating genes are the first strand in what Jeremy Rifkin describes as "the new operational matrix of the Biotech Century". While the motivation behind genetic engineering is age-old, the technology itself represents something qualitatively new. To understand why this is the case, we must appreciate the distinction between traditional tinkering with biological organisms and the mutational potential of current genetic engineering.

I'm going to run through a couple of the projects I've done that utilized genetics, or the technologies of genetics. The first instance, for me, was a work called Lamina. I had been given a gel a few years ago; it was old school, meaning it was an actual piece of film with a sequence on it. It looked like an x-ray of a knitting pattern. It didn't immediately captivate me for 'art usage' as I'd been dealing with more figural medical imaging technologies. But what I was attracted to about it, was the fact that it was a literal, point-by-point translation of a biological unit. Nucleotides transcribed into an observable, patterned system. By the time I was ready to develop the piece, the technology for doing sequences and micro-satellites had moved on to digital renditions and more malleable data. For instance your DNA sequence could be represented by a colour-coded chromatogram. But for Lamina, I was looking for something that made a bit of an interference pattern like those Chinese lanterns that are driven by a candle or incandescent bulb on the inside. And Lamina worked similarly in that it had 2 'patterns' running past each other. There was a hard outer Perspex cylinder with the sequence on it, and a soft film cylinder suspended on the inside that would rotate when the heat from the halogen bulbs hit the propeller top.

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Lamina

My choice of gene ended up being my ACE gene, which is thought to be responsible for some aspects of athleticism, like respiratory function. It's also the gene under scrutiny in regards to the West Kenyan runners, and their astonishing ability to win gold medals. So one question you could ask is if in the future gene therapy was used to modify your ACE gene, how is that different from performance enhancing drugs and the ban on them? For me I just thought it was fitting to use that gene, in light of the fact that I was building something akin to a vertical genetic treadmill. However, in the literature I had anticipated a consultation with any potential buyer as to what gene may be appropriate for their Lamina sculpture, along with a contract not to sustain their gene line.

In the next work I'm showing, called Evanition (which means to pass out of sight), I decided to use one system of translation to code another system. Many people might recognize the similarity of those light patterns with micro-satellites or DNA sequencing. slide So I used an analog technique of reading a DNA sequence which is positional. The normal convention being ?if it's in lane 1 it's Guanine, lane 2 it's Adenine, lane 3 it's Thymine, 4 is Cytosine. I then mapped out the random light patterns of Tower 1 in the World Trade Centre, created a sequence and had it sent off to the lab to be synthesized in August of last year.

What I got back was my "twin towers gene" (although this is a misnomer because I didn't make a gene I made a DNA sequence) made from the same stuff as you and I, but from a constructed recipe. I had intended to register it with the patents office, in reference to corporations who have tried to patent life forms, sometimes successfully.

Owing to extenuating circumstances in September, the piece I made ended up being what you see here, where the DNA acts as a "lure" for interaction with the overall piece. It's a 2-sided sculpture with an incision in the wall. As you approach , you change the state of the LCD glass from opaque to transparent of vice-versa. The DNA is illuminated with LEDs to give it the feeling of a precious object, although that vial is exactly as it came from the lab.

Finally this is the work that I'm showing here as part of the ConVerge show at the Art Gallery of South Australia called Transformers. This work was more considered in terms of the significance of biotechnologies on the individual, or on the idea of identity.

I think initially I was seduced by the potential to understand 'how' we are, and how genetics can determine that. It's fascinating to have a biological understanding or substantiation of personality, not just disease or bodily function. When I say personality, I mean in the sense that chemicals in the brain control temperament. But I think temperament is only half of personality and the other half is what you'd call character, which is developed much more rhizomatically through experience.

In Transformers I was interested in ideas of identity and translation, because science and technology are increasingly mediating them, or being relied on in that way (eg police ID'ing, patrimony suits etc). So on a research trip to Beijing in 2000, I chose 12 subjects who I felt were complicit to varying degrees, with understanding identity as an evolving, multiplicitous, malleable and even mutable experience (in the case of one subject who had undergone gender reassignment) without ever thinking about their DNA.

I collected physical evidence of identity, such as hair which I used to do the DNA sequences, fingerprints and photographs, along with more intangible and cultural identifying information like personal histories. When I interviewed them I asked questions about how they were who they were, cultural factors and genetic factors - not really easy questions to answer because they are more about beingness and philosophy than statistical analysis of personality type.

I'm not saying the ability to move between, and operate successfully in different cultures is genetically coded or an acquired trait. I think those kinds of distinctions serve very little purpose, what I'm seeing now is a need to continue to value difference. This relates more to the topic of the panel. A cure for cystic fibrosis is something we'd all want (as long as it doesn't use stem cell research, some would argue). However, in terms of gene therapy and designer babies who determines what's desirable, what's an aberration? What's done to give a child the most opportunity quickly becomes not just about health or intelligence, but also becomes concerned with things like physical features that will aid that child in succeeding in the dominant ideology of the culture. So once again, who gets to set the agenda for desirability?

I believe in the importance of retaining some elasticity in who we are and what we can become. This means acknowledging the control and creativity of science, while preferring to situate science somewhere other than the centre of power and knowledge.