Gene Genies Worldwide
- Gene Genies Worldwide
Recent developments in genetic engineering and biotechnology have raised a multitude of ethical, economic, social and civic issues. Gene Genies Worldwide addresses the conjunction of genetic engineering and consumer culture to provide a critical evaluation of civic roles. We are artists posing as scientists aspiring to be artists. We create work that serves to raise consciousness, foster civic dialogue on accountability and ownership concerns, and catalyze action by imagining a possible future and challenging viewers to question that future.
Our collaboration was first realized as a public art installation. The installation was presented as a conceptual retail store for a fictitious company offering services and products for the custom design of our clients' genetic codes in order to enhance and augment their personalities. The installation was successful in (1) raising consciousness by offering an imagined future scenario; (2) initiating an ongoing dialogue amongst shoppers who were perplexed and intrigued, who then disagreed with us and each other about the issues of biotechnology and consumption raised; and (3) subverting the context of consumption by exploiting the high-end retail atmosphere to educate a public audience. The "store" was also in the vicinity (Pasadena, CA) of the California Institute of Technology and the Art Center College of Design; the audience included members of these institutions.
After showing this installation, we presented The Creative Gene Harvest Archive, which became our instrument for subverting the gallery context wherein the work was viewed and investigating the shifting boundary between art and science. The Creative Gene Harvest Archive proceeded from Gene Genies Worldwide's intent to harvest, store and utilize the genetic codes for creativity collected from some of society's most exemplary and recognized creative individuals in order to design future personalities imbued with these same traits. In this display, we selected a subjective sampling of gifted individuals who have made significant contributions to the arts and sciences in recent years.
Another project, China Campaign 2000 (see Fig. 2), was a promotional campaign to publicize Gene Genies Worldwide's services to the Chinese population, tapping into the world's largest marketplace. The project consisted of banners in the style of contemporary Chinese propaganda posters, in both English and Chinese, which were to be hung throughout China, in both the cities and the countryside.
In April 2000 we unveiled the conceptual Gene Genies Worldwide Gallery at the Brewery in the Brewery Arts Complex, Los Angeles. The gallery marks a bold new step in our efforts to secure the longevity of our work and identities by highlighting our own endeavors, both artistic and scientific, in the biotech field. It serves as a public interface for our laboratory to conduct ongoing research and harvest genetic materials from gallery viewers, as well as defining the future of public relations. We have established that the goal of this and future Gene Genies Worldwide galleries is to be incubators for cultural and scientific experiments, bringing forth a new age of value production and commodity exchange.
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Tran T. Kim-Trang and Karl Mihail, China Campaign 2000 banner in English; plastics, vinyl, 33 × 51 in, 1999.
Our official electronic hub was launched in 2001 at <genegenies.com>. It is intended to be a corporate-style web site, featuring historical information and documentation of our various projects as well as links to selected sites on biotechnology. We invite readers to visit the site for more information and news of upcoming events. [End Page 34]
