Stranger Visions (2012-2013)

Stranger Visions consists of seven sculpted heads based on DNA examples found in public places, e.g. a strand of hair or a cigarette butt. The artist uses a new method to gain information from DNA about a person’s appearance, such as eye colour, heritage or gender. One of the seven faces is a portrait of the artist herself. The work is accompanied by a making-of video offering more information about the project. The video has been made by Kari Mulholland, the film and video director of Ted Global, the international platform for lectures about society, science and technology. Stranger Visions is a research project that prompts us to think about the impact of technology on our right to privacy.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg approaches art as a form of research and as a place for critical reflection on society. Her work is interdisciplinary and combines sculpture, text, installation and performance. It is exhibited internationally in museums, galleries and project spaces such as PS1, New York; Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and Jaaga Art and Technology Centre, Bangalore. Her work could also be read in The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, Science Magazine, and seen and heard on the BBC World News Service, CNN, and radio programmes in Japan, Russia, Germany and America. Dewey-Hagborg received her Masters at the Interactive Telecommunications Program, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. She’s currently working on her PhD in Electronic Arts at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and is assistant professor of Art and Technology Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.