Paul Vanouse: Fingerprints...
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curated by Jens Hauser Opening: Thursday, January 27, 2011, at 7 pm Schering Stiftung The exhibition Fingerprints… at the Ernst Schering Foundation’s project space will showcase the performative installations and live laboratories by US-American biomedia artist Paul Vanouse. Curated by Jens Hauser, the exhibition presents the world premiere of the Suspect Inversion Center, an operational laboratory in which Vanouse creates identical “genetic fingerprints” of criminals and celebrities from his own DNA. It also features new motifs of the Latent Figure Protocol, as well as the Relative Velocity Inscription Device – a cynical molecular race reflecting on biologically legitimized racism, in which bits of DNA, instead of bodies, compete by testing their “genetic fitness”. The exhibition marks a continuation of the Ernst Schering Foundation’s effort to promote the public discussion about the role of images in art and science. |
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Vanouse’s biotechnological installations do not only challenge the codes and images of contemporary knowledge production but also question the methods behind (natural) scientific findings in general: What do uncritically accepted commonplace catchwords such as “genetic fingerprint” conceal? To what extend does the technical construction of alleged naturalness notarize clichés and prejudices? Vanouse diverts biotechnologies and scientific imaging techniques from their intended uses, and amalgamates auratic iconography with technical images. Employing gel electrophoresis as artistic medium, he intentionally applies a method that bears analogies to photography: while photography allowed viewers to draw seemingly objective conclusions about human qualities based on physiognomic characteristics of the body, today, increasingly questionable social conclusions are derived from ontologized body fragments such as genes. For further information about the artworks please click here . Book presentationMarch 24, 2011 at 7 pm, Ernst Schering Foundation | Unter den Linden 32-34 | 10117 Berlin On the occasion of the exhibition, the anthology Fingerprints…Index, Imprint, Trace, edited by Jens Hauser, will appear in the Ernst Schering Foundation’s publication series with argobooks. Related events in cooperation with transmediale.11February 1 – 6, 2011. at Haus der Kulturen der Welt | John-Foster-Dulles-Allee 10 | 10557 Fingerprints… is an official Satellite Partner of transmediale.11, where it will be echoed by the live installation Latent Figure Protocol and a panel at the transmediale.11 conference on February 4, 2011. Supported by the Ernst Schering Foundation, the artist and the curator as well as internationally renowned scientists will enlarge upon the issues raised by the exhibition. February 1, 2011, 9 pm | Performance Latent Figure Protocol as part of the opening ceremony of transmediale.11 (starting at 7 pm), HacKaWay Zone Additional performances Latent Figure Protocol: February 3 and 5, 2011, 8 pm, HacKaWay Zone February 2 – 6, 2011, 10 am – 4 pm & 7 pm – 10 pm | Installation Latent Figure Protocol, HacKaWay Zone February 4, 2011, 2 – 4 pm | Panel Fingerprints? Identity, Indexicality and Biomedia with Paul Vanouse, Simon Cole, Jens Hauser, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, chaired by Marie-Luise Angerer, Auditorium The convergence of information and laboratory technological procedures engenders biomedia that are increasingly being appropriated by the arts. Based on the performative gel electrophoresis works by
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