OMNI SERIES, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age HAND WRITTEN TEXT/DATA WEAVING THROUGH INSTALLATION: Through the blood vessels in the umbilical cord, the fetus receives all the necessary nutrition, oxygen, and life support from the mother through the placenta.1 The blood in the umbilical cord and placenta is unique because it contains large numbers of blood stem cells.2 Experts are predicting that stem cell research has the potential to help up to half of all Americans, who suffer from some form of presently incurable disease, or injury.3 Embryonic stem cells have a much greater utility and potential than the adult stem cells, because embryonic stem cells may develop into virtually every type of cell in the human body.4 Therapeutic cloning, is fundamentally different from human reproductive cloning; therapeutic produces stem cells, not babies.5 We should use cloning, not to create more people, but to make more actually existing people healthy.6 One might ask whether the cloning of tissues and organs would be motivated by the desire to improve the human species and thus serve eugenic goals.7 “Selves, unlike cells, can never be cloned.”8 "All humans share 99.9% of the same [genes)9 Scientists estimate that the genomes of non-related people—differ at about 1 in every 1,200 to 1,500 DNA bases, or "letters.10 Every human genome is different because of mutations—"mistakes" that occur occasionally in a DNA sequence.11 Your genome contains about 100 "new" mutations—. Other variations in your genome arose many generations ago.12 Mitrochondrial DNA traces an unbroken maternal line back through time for generation upon generation far further back than any written record.13 Everyone alive on the planet today can trace their maternal ancestry back to just one woman. By all accounts, she lived in Africa about 150,000 – 200,000 years ago and is known as “Mitochondrial Eve.”14 An organism is the expression not merely of its genome, but of its interactive development within some particular environment.15 © 2004 Chris Twomey OMNI SERIES FOOTNOTES: 1..www.cooperhealth.org/heart/greystone/illustrations/fetlcirc.htm 2.www.marrow.org/medical/donation_procedures.htm. 3.www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/WhatsNew/Benefit.htm 4.www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org/About/FAQ.htm 5.www.geocities.com/goamtfode;o/art/CellNEWS_CAMR_noclone_ban.htm 6. Michael Ruse and Aryne Sheppard, Cloning, Prometheus Books, New York ,2001 pg.164 7. “ pg.164 8.“Genes, Environment, and Personality,” Science 246 (June 17, 1994): 1700-1701 9. www.gairdner.org/news48.html, National Post Online, Genome pioneer urges open discussion, By Brad Evenson, Oct.25, 2002 10. www.genomenewsnetwork.org/wats_a_genome/Chp4_1.shtml, Genome Variations, Genome News Network online publication of The Center for the Advancement of Genomics (TCAG) 2000-2004 11. “ 12. “ 13. www.oxfordancestors.com/your-maternal.html 14. “ 15 .Michael Ruse and Aryne Sheppard, Cloning, Prometheus Books, New York 2001, pg. 104 ARTIST STATEMENT OVER CLONES: The Posthuman future is here. The question is, what kind of posthumans will we be? For each of these navels, I have created a unique filter that rearranges the source photographic information to create a new image. Similar to the way stem cells contain our genetic information, but can be reprogrammed to create new cells, you are invited to be photographed and filtered through any one of these filters; as if cloned and then released, your DNA to express itself in its own way. HOW YOU CAN BE PART OF IT: "For each of these navels I have created a unique filter that rearranges the source photographic information to create a new image. Much as stem cells can be reprogrammed, you are invited to choose any of these filters, be cloned and have your visual information reprogrammed or expressed in a new form. Please go to filters set #1 and filters set #2 to choose. Thank you." ABOUT THE SCULPTURE ON STEVE CANNON: What you will see from this doorway is a pixilated version of Steve Cannon’s navel made of mirrors which reflect the world. His resolution is about 31 DPI blown up many times. "OMNISERIES" at TRIBES PRESS RELEASE: CHRIS TWOMEY OMNI SERIES, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age June 3 – July 30, 2004 A Gathering of the Tribes gallery is pleased to present CHRIS TWOMEY’S new media installation, “OMNI SERIES, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age,” celebrating diversity and our shared humanity as we reflect on our genetic future. Twomey’s installation includes 70 images of navels that are digitally re-coded from their photographic source, obtained at last August’s HOWL Festival in the East Village. A hand written, unbroken line of text and data about recent genetic developments threads through the images, and leads the viewer to the gallery garden, where an 11 foot sculpture completes the experience. “OMNI SERIES” refers to “Omphalus,” another word for navel and in Greek mythology, a totem regarded as the center of the earth. “The umbilical cord was once the core of our existence/nourishment and our most profound human bond,” says Twomey. “It also contains the stem cells that help shape our destiny with their unique genetic code.” At the opening, a live camera collected new image samples of people/navels to enrich the exhibition source. These new images of navels were digitized so that one person is seen through another’s filter, suggestive of genetic cloning and in keeping with Twomey’s interest in our self-identity. A DVD displays the metamorphosis of navels to universes as a reflection of the infinite diversity of the stem cells. This process is ongoing. Through www.christwomey.com, more people continue to be invited to pick filters and join the OMNI SERIES. A related panel discussion, also entitled, “Art and Genetics in a Digitial Age,” took place on Friday, May 21, 2004, at Artists Talk on Art. Chris Twomey moderated this discussion, which also featured artist and author Suzanne Anker, artists Steve Miller and Kevin Clarke, and Columbia U. geneticist Dr. Max Gottesman. Chris Twomey has exhibited widely throughout the United States, and received awards from the Ford Foundation, Creative Artists Project Service, Kitchen Center, Santa Fe Art Institute, and American Film Institute. She recently exhibited at the International Print Center in New York City, and will be in a September show at the Paul Mellon Arts Center in Wallingford, CT. Chris received an MFA from Pratt Institute and a BFA from Ramapo College, and also attended Reed College. 10% of the proceeds from the OMNI SERIES show will be donated to stem cell research. Contact: Steve Cannon 212-674-8262, or email info@tribes.org Tribes Gallery, 285 East Third Street, 2nd floor (between C and D) New York, NY 10009, The gallery is open Tuesday – Sunday, 12 – 6 p.m., or call for an appointment. F train to the 2nd Avenue stop or 6 train to Bleecker and walk east. More info:www.tribes.org/gallery/index.html TEXT ON WALL at Entrance to Gallery: “OMNI SERIES” Art and Genetics in a Digital Age The umbilical cord was our closest human bond Stem cells are in the umbilical cord Stem cells have the ability to differentiate into multiple cell types A universe of genetic potential It’s all in the expression – join us…. May 2004 *Researchers take steps toward understanding how to regenerate tissue by triggering stem cells. *Human bone marrow-derived stem cells may hold promise for treating malignant brain tumors April 2004 *”Switched On” muscle stem cells morph to reasemble nerve cells *Bone marrow stem cells show promise for treating neurological disorders March 2004 *Stem cells offer the promise for hair growth *Stem cells researchers successfully treat diabetes in mice by coaxing cells to change into blood forming stem cells February 2004 *Cord blood cells proven to differentiate into heart muscle and brain cells * Cloning creates human embryos and embryonic stem cells 10% of proceeds donated to: /www.stemcellresearchfoundation.org Artists Talk on Art IMMEDIATE RELEASE ART AND GENETICS IN A DIGITAL AGE: Panel Discussion 8 p.m. Friday May 21st, 2004 Soho20 Gallery, 511 West 25th Street, NYC Artists Talk on Art and Tribes Gallery presents an art/science genetic road show moderated by artist, Chris Twomey, about the de-coding of data, genes, and self-identity in art and culture. Panelists: Suzanne Anker, artist and author "The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age” Kevin Clarke, artist Max Gottesman, M.D. Ph.D and geneticist Steve Miller, artist Moderator: Chris Twomey, artist Continuing the dialogue already established by informative genetic road shows including, “Paradise Now” at Exit Art, DNAID through Creative Time, and the recent 50th Anniversary of the double helix during DNA Week, the panel will consider: * What are the newest discoveries in genetics and stem cell research? * How does the de-coding of the genome, the old news, and the new discoveries of our genetic origins relate to how we see ourselves in art and culture? *How does our contemporary emphasis on data, computing, interfacing, and de-coding affect our values and self perception? *Finally, depending on our choices, what does the future look like? Artists Talk on Art – May 21st ($7.50 cover, 3.00 students/seniors) Soho20 Gallery 511 West 25th Street Suite 605 New York, NY 10001 212-799-9250 / www.atoa.ws "Artists Talk on Art" Discussion on ART AND GENETICS IN A DIGITAL AGE INTRO BY CHRIS TWOMEY, 5-21-04: "Welcome to Art and Genetics in a Digital Age, an art and science road show that will explore how the most recent genetic discoveries in science have influenced our self identity in art and culture. My name is Chris Twomey and I will help lead our panel through the showing of their work, our discussion, and finally questions from the audience. Please hold your questions until the end. I’d like to thank Steve Cannon of Tribes Gallery for his support and in instigating the concept of a panel discussion. Also thank you Artists talk on art for their help in putting this together and a big thank you to my panelists for agreeing take this journey with us by sharing their art and thoughts and research. Thank you all my friends, you know who you are! And a special thanks to our ancestors, especially mitochondrial Eve, the mother of us all, who lived deep in Africa two hundred thousand years ago. Without her, none of this would be possible. You can read more about that in a book by Brian Sykes called “The Seven Daughters of Eve.” So, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age. Art and Genetics are pretty self-evident especially after 1995 when they cloned Dolly. Every day we pick up the newspaper, we read about genetic advances like how Korean scientists have cloned human embryos and extracted stem cells, in the same breath Hollywood is producing films like, GODSEND, a fantasy/horror film based on cloning and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Multiples are taking on an errie significance. On a random search on the internet, we hit www.Jax.org see that we can order a great variety of genetically modified mice, like recombinant inbred mice, complete with model numbers. In the next click, you can go to www.geneart.org and enter an interactive genetic modernism site and reproduce recombinant inbred squares. Or we read editorials in the NYTIMES like “When Fish Fluoresce, can Teenagers be Far Behind?” That 2003 article is referring to a genetically modified glofish, developed by injecting genes from a luminescent sea coral into zebra fish eggs to make a fish that glows in the dark. Of course, in 2000, Eduardo Kac showed his glow in the dark GFP Bunny at Exit Art, a creature called a transgenic because it is a rabbit which has jellyfish genes that code for green fluorescent protein. I just read that Chinese researcher have produced chimeric clones using rabbit eggs and human DNA. Kac proposes that artists appropriate techniques of genetic engineering to invent new life forms. I have some ideas for that too-but, how does the Digital Age fit in? I was on the subway the other day and I overheard two young students speaking. One said to the other, “he’s so good at math; it must be encrypted in his genes.’ His genes are his unique DNA code of ATCG nitrogen bases, found in his chromosomes which he inherited from his mother and father. 23 chromosomes from each parent. It is his data, so to speak. In his data, his friends say that he has an encrypted ability. Encryption is a common computer term meaning the encoding of information into a form that can only be read once it is decoded This concept of ourselves as data that is encoded or encrypted is further illustrated when we talk about “breaking the code” of the Genome which scientists completed in 2003.. This way of seeing implies success in reading, managing and controlling genomic information. Now, as a gross generalization, this students math skills may be somewhere on Chromosome number 6. Probably it’s on the IGF2R gene which has 98,000 A’sT’sC’s G;s. You can read more about this in GENOME by Matt Ridley….. I don’t want to get bogged down by the relationship of proteins and enzymes to the gene and it’s expression, but now that scientists have finished mapping the genome, it’s this kind of specific knowledge, that gives rise to medical breakthroughs in treatments for cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s as well as worst case scenarios as in the film “Gattica” in which one’s genetic ID is used by the government and society for control. Who owns this information? So, Along with great hope for the curing of illness, there is also a great anxiety - On www.bioethics.net there were articles predicting that “eugenics is making a comeback and is the mother of all battles for the human race.” A character from the cyberpunk novel called “Altered Carbon” by Richard K Morgan take the digital metaphor one step further and asks “how can you digitize a human being without losing their soul? As we cope with the huge strides we make in understanding genomic data, and the applications that will potentially be developed, from extending life, healing illness, mixing species by introducing one organisms gene into another, theraputive cloning, reproductive cloning, and stem cell research, we must reconsider our idea of human biology and identity. The post human future is here, the question is what kind of post humans will we be? I believe that artists with their artwork can critically examine the genetic technologies of our time to inform and clarify society’s choices about the future. And, it is important to think about these things now, before the teenage mutant bioluminescents learn to drive. Again, let me quote from ALTERED CARBON “As a child, I’d believed there was an essential person, a sort of core personality abound which the surface factors could evolve and change without damaging the integrity of who you were. Later I started to see that this was an error of perception caused by the metaphors we were used to framing ourselves in." Here, we shall challenge you to redefine yourself and what it means to be human through new visual metaphors shared with us tonight by the panelists of Art and Genetics in a Digital Age. Susanne Anker, is an artist and author of “In the Molecular gaze, Art in the Genetic Age.” I have the book right here, and it examines all the issues I have just addressed and more. It is a rich resource of images and ideas from many artists who have dedicated themselves to the moral and bioethical question of what is “identity” in a society of genetically manipulated individuals. Kevin and Steve are in it and Suzanne will sign copies of it for you later, should you wish to buy one. Suzanne has been curating exhibitions that are devoted to the intersection of art and genetics since 1994. She teaches and has written for many art journals. Her art work has been shown both nationally and internationally in museum and Galleries. Her current solo show, “Golden Boy,” can be seen at Universal Concepts Unlimited, in Chelsea. “Reprotech: Building Better Babies” is a group show she curated, at the New York Academy of Sciences. Kevin Clarke is a conceptual photographer who interweaves genetic sequences with interpretive portraits, which reference the individuals in his life while exploring the structure of his personal relationship with them. His work has been published as prize-winning books and he has exhibited internationally “From the Blood of Poets” was a series of portraits derived from DNA sequences of artist scientists, In DUST to DNA: Kevin Clarke and Mikey Flowers 9/11, Kevin collaborated with an emergency medical Technician named Mikey Flowers who photographed the chaotic scene of the world trade center as he helped people escape. Kevin will be showing a new body of work here tonight. Dr. Max Gottsman, Ph.D. is the Director of the Institute of Cancer Research at Columbia University Medical Center. He is studying the E.coli virus, lambda, and its relatives. His research has focused on how lambda inserts it’s DNA into the bacterial chromosome, how viral gene expression is regulated, and how viruses compete in nature for the same how. Although lambda virus particles are 50 nm in diameter (T = 7), very small, the Lambda looms large in the field of genetics and has inspired not only genetic research but several artists. Dr.Gottsman will tell us more about it and how his research relates to our discussion. Steve Miller has been exploring the intersections of art, technology and science since 1980. His current work explores the protein molecules, created by our DNA, which give the cell its instructions, and starts or inhibits its functions. For this, he has been collaborating with the current Nobel Prize winner in chemistry, Rod Mackinnon of Rockefeller U, one of the leading researchers in proteomics, a field that Steve will explain. This collaboration has resulted in a series of drawings and paintings using images of many years of Rod’s research. Steve’s work can currently be seen in a show called “Reality Check” at Spike Gallery in Chelsea (until May 29th) and he is also in "Reprotech: building better babies?" curated by Suzanne (until June 18th). Steve is a 2004 receipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts painting fellowship. I have been using conceptual themes from science and its relationship to self-identity since I was a student. My work, in the form of film and prints and paintings has been exhibited around the US and I’ve won various grants and awards. My current work and its emphasis on photography and the digitization of the source image, duplicating or recombining visual information, works as a metaphor for the role genetic information and technologies affect us politically, socially, and psychologically. My work was just exhibited in the Pool Underground Art Fair last weekend, and my first solo show, Omni Series, opens at Tribes Gallery on Thursday, June 3rd. It is an ode to stem cells as you will see later… Suzanne? " OMNI SERIES CRITICAL REVIEW: “Chris Twomey’s new installation, “OMNI SERIES, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age consists of a series of photographs of human navels and a banner inscribed with her thoughts, based on the scientific literature, on the potential of stem cell research for human health. The connection is that umbilical cord blood is a rich source of stem cells. The navel then is not only the remnant of the umbilical cord, which supported us in the womb, but reminds us that umbilical cord blood could free us of devastating disease. This show makes an artistic, poetic and political statement at the same time. Remember that the radical right has succeeded in cutting off federal funding for stem cell research, with severe consequences – for everyone. Not incidentally, Twomey is donating 10% of the proceeds of the show to support stem cell research. And the photographs are brilliant and mesmerizing as well. Don’t miss it.” Max Gottesman M.D., Ph.D. Director, Institute of Cancer Research Columbia University Medical Center ON THE PRESS: ANNOUNCEMENT IN "SCIENCE AND THE CITY" New York Academy of Science: Jun 3, 2004 - Jul 30, 2004 • 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM Omni Series: Art and Genetics in a Digital Age Chris Twomey, artist Location: Tribes Gallery, 285 E. 3rd Street This installation includes 70 images of navels, digitally re-coded from their photographic source. A hand written line of data about recent genetic developments threads through the images, leading to an 11 foot sculpture. 10% of the proceeds from the show will be donated to stem cell research. REVIEW IN "NEW YORK ARTS": Contemplating Our Navel: "Omni Series," Art And Genetics in a Digital Age By Flash Christine Twomey, Omni Series - installation detail, 2004, digital prints and text, copyright Christine Twomey 2004 Navel, after navel, after navel lines the walls of the rooms at Tribes Gallery, some 70 digital images in all. Each navel is distinguished by Photoshop manipulations: the navels have been pixilated, marbleized, dappled, variegated, colorized and/or otherwise altered. Immediately I have two questions: Why navels? What is the intent of these manipulations? My search for meaning is quickly rewarded by a line of text which winds around the images, turning up or down, right or left, almost always at 90 degree angles. The text is not printed on the gallery walls, as you might expect, rather it is hand drawn on a membrane like scroll which physically winds around the work, much like an umbilical cord, albeit one pinned to the wall. It talks about the importance of stem cell research, and the importance of umbilical cord blood cells to stem cell research. If you follow this line of words, as it meanders through the three rooms of the gallery (amounting to about a page of text), you learn the difference which the artist perceives between therapeutic cloning and the forms of human cloning which are commonly decried by activists. The artist is particularly concerned that the potential benefits of therapeutic cloning not be lost due to over reaction to any and all uses of cloning. Further, from additional text we learn she promises to donate 10% of the proceeds of the show to support stem cell research. In this, her cause seems just. Among the voluminous supporting text for this show, you can find a letter from a mother who speaks about the stem cell transplant that saved her child's life. This mother "loved" the show. She writes, "What very few people understand is that every single pregnant woman has the opportunity to donate her stem cells to the general public so that they may be used in transplants such as (the one which saved her child)." Commendable, if true. Too many artists fall into the "Frankenstein" mode of artistic production, critical of the dangers of scientific advances, without considering or weighing the countervailing benefits. At a time when extreme political forces have ended government funding for stem cell research, this work takes on political, as well as social, medical, scientific and aesthetic dimensions. Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and cancer are some of the diseases which might be cured using stem cells. Twomey can be admired for her courage in deciding to champion therapeutic stem cell research. From the accompanying text we learn the show's title, "Omni Series," was inspired by the Greek word Omphalos. The word meant navel, and according to the artist also referred to a huge stone the Greeks thought was the center of the earth. The artist explains that to her, "Omni" also refers to the omnipotent power of stem cells. I am reminded that in ancient Greek one word, "techne" referred to both art and science. These disciplines, which have seemed so disparate in the centuries since, seem to again merge in the work of digital artists today. But what about all those photo manipulations? What of their aesthetics and meaning? There is again no lack of explanatory text: we are informed the images were photographed at a HOWL festival in the East Village. The manipulations are intended to show what it might feel like to be cloned. I'm trying to make that connection when I see an image on a video monitor which makes the connection for me. A photograph of a navel appears, and then as filters are tweaked, it morphs into one of the images we see before us in the gallery. In this manner we see navel after navel transformed as we watch the DVD. I learn the artist used Image Ready to create the animations from Photoshop files. The video seems to provide some sense of explanation, hence meaning for the images. We may not understand why the navels look the way they do, but at least we've now seen how they got to look that way, which provides some sort of satisfaction to our curiosity, and at least a sense of having seen the causation, if not of understanding said causation. We seem to be able to connect to the feelings the artist had in the act of creation. The ability to thus expressively use the dimension of time inherent in digital media helps to define contemporary digital artists. REVIEW: The navel is the center of it all Published in the Home News Tribune The navel is the center of it all Navels are a curious thing. And we're not talking oranges. They can be innies or outies, pierced or unpierced. They're the means by which we're attached to our mothers in the womb, via the umbilical cord. It's that connection which in turn provides us with the nourishment needed to grow and develop. Oh, and one more thing. We all have them. It's that shared humanity that artist Chris Twomey bases her latest installation, "OMNI SERIES, Art and Genetics in a Digital Age," at A Gathering of the Tribes gallery through July 30. "OMNI SERIES," which refers to the Greek word for navel, includes 70 images of navels that are digitally recoded from their photographic source. A line of text and information about recent genetic developments filters through the images. The text leads the viewer to the gallery garden containing a large sculpture. In addition, a camera will collect new images of people and their navels. The new images will be digitized, allowing one person to be seen through another's filter. "The umbilical cord was once the core of our existence/nourishment and our most profound human bond," explains Twomey. "It also contains the stem cells that help shape our destiny with their unique genetic code." A Gathering of the Tribes gallery is located at 285 East 3rd St. Gallery hours are 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday or by appointment. More information is available at www.tribes.org The following is a letter to the artist from a mom whose child was saved by a stem cell transplant: “Dear Chris, I LOVED your show! In regards to “D” I think the really dramatic thing is that it was so difficult to find matching stem cells for him because he is half Navajo. I don’t remember if I explained that to you. We kept hearing about potential donors, who upon further testing, were too incompatible with “D’s” genetic code. We were desperate! Then we found out that there were umbilical cord stem cells that matched 4 out of 6 of "D's" alleles. It was enough for the doctors at Columbia, so we went with it. It is truly astonishing that he is here with us today. I give thanks every day. What very few people understand is that every single pregnant woman has the opportunity to donate her stem cells to the general public so that they may be used in transplants such as Dakota’s. The vast majority of OB-GYN’s do NOT know this. There is a bank called Cryobanks International that will set up stem cell retrieval for any woman, anywhere, at no cost to her. And nobody knows this!!!!! Also, I would really love a print of “D’s” belly button. I’m going to ask for one for my birthday. Sincerely, “ K” P.S. Complete URL: http://www.tribes.org/gallery/archives/Chris_Twomey/chris-twomey_omni-series_news_0704.htm