Stranger Visions: DNA Collected from Found Objects Used to Create 3D Portraits

You’re walking down a street in Brooklyn, gnawing on a piece of gum that’s past the point of flavorful.. In a hurry, you spit it on the ground without a second thought and continue about your day. Hours later, a mysterious woman arrives, surreptitiously collecting the sticky gum from the sidewalk and dropping it into a clear plastic bag which she then carefully labels. Flash forward a month later: you’re walking through an art gallery, and there, mounted on the wall, is a familiar face staring back at you. Astonishingly (or terrifyingly), it’s a 3D print of your face generated from the DNA you left behind on that random piece of gum that now appears in a petri dish just below the portrait. A few years ago this would have seemed like science fiction, the stuff of films like Gattaca, but to information artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg, it’s how she makes her artwork here in 2013.
They say inspiration can strike anywhere. For Dewey-Hagborg, it happened in a therapy session. While staring at a framed print on the wall, she fixated on a tiny crack in the glass into which a small hair had become lodged. As her mind wandered, she imagined who this seemingly insignificant hair belonged to, and, more specifically, what they might look like. After that day, she became keenly aware of the genetic trail left by every person in their daily life, and began to question what physical characteristics could be identified through the DNA left behind on a piece of gum or cigarette butt.

Sample Location 6. January 6, 2013 at 12:25pm; Wilson ave. and Stanhope St. Brooklyn, NY; MtDNA Haplogroup: D1 (Native American, South American); SRY Gene: present; Gender: Male; HERC2 Gene: AA; Eye Color: Brown

Stranger Visions is the result of her fascinating, if slightly disconcerting, line of questioning and experimentation: 3D printed portraits based on DNA samples taken from objects found on the streets of Brooklyn. Dewey-Hagborg worked with a DIY biology lab called Genspace, where she met a number of biologists who taught her everything she now knows about molecular biology and DNA. Via an interview with the artist:

So I extract the DNA in the lab and then I amplify certain regions of it using a technique called PCR – Polymerase Chain Reaction. This allows me to study certain regions of the genome that tend to vary person to person, what are called SNPs or Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms.
I send the results of my PCR reactions off to a lab for sequencing and what I get back are basically text files filled with sequences of As, Ts, Cs, and Gs, the nucleotides that compose DNA. I align these using a bioinformatics program and determine what allele is present for a particular SNP on each sample.
Then I feed this information into a custom computer program I wrote which takes all these values which code for physical genetic traits and parameterizes a 3d model of a face to represent them. For example gender, ancestry, eye color, hair color, freckles, lighter or darker skin, and certain facial features like nose width and distance between eyes are some of the features I am in the process of studying.
I add some finishing touches to the model in 3d software and then export it for printing on a 3d printer. I use a Zcorp printer which prints in full color using a powder type material, kind of like sand and glue.

The resulting portraits are bizarre approximations of anonymous people who unknowingly left their genetic material on a random city street. So how accurate are the faces created from this genetic experiment? The artist likes to say they have a “family resemblance” and no, unlike the scenario depicted above, a person has never recognized themselves in any of her exhibitions. Yet. There are some things such as age which are virtually impossible to determine from DNA alone, so Dewey-Hagborg casts each portrait as if the person were around 25 years old.

Sample Location 2. January 6, 2013 qt 12:15pm; 1381 Myrtle ave. Brooklyn, NY; MtDNA Haplogroup: H2a2a1 (Eastern European); SRY Gene: present; Gender: Male; HERC2 Gene: AA; Eye Color: Brown

Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg with a genetically derived self-portrait.

Dewey-Hagborg will be giving a talk with a pop-up exhibit at Genspace on June 13th, and QF Gallery on Long Island will host a body of her work from June 29th through July 13th. You can follow the artist via her website and also her blog. All imagery courtesy the artist. (via smithsonian)

http://www.thisiscolossal.com

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck

Ron Mueck’s Studio, January 2013. Photo by Gautier Deblonde.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck works in the realm of the ultra-real where he spends hundreds of hours perfecting the shape of the human form, the appropriate color of skin, and the most realistic hair texture. All of his efforts culminate in incredibly lifelike figurative sculptures with one small (or large) exception: the artworks are often gigantic or miniaturized, resulting in an uncomfortable “does not compute” moment when trying to comprehend exactly what you’re looking at. Each sculpted person is as bizarre as it is amazing, in part because of the raw intimacy portrayed in their faces, as if we are somehow witnessing the documentation of a private moment.

Ron Mueck’s Studio, January 2013. Photo by Gautier Deblonde.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Like several other hyperrealist sculptors Mueck began his sculpting career in entertainment where he started work as a puppeteer, creating models and puppets for children’s movies and TV shows. Most notably he worked on Jim Henson’s film Labyrinth and even provided the voice for the character Ludo. In 1996 he made the switch to fine art and quickly rose to prominence with exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the National Gallery in London.
Last month Mueck unveiled three new works at the Fondation Cartier in Paris as part of an exhibition that runs through September 29th, including the extraordinary Couple Under an Umbrella shown above. You can watch the video to get a little more perspective on just how large this artwork really is. All images above courtesy Fondation Cartier. (via my amp goes to 11)

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/

Kevin Spacey The Fabulous: New Portrait By Jonathan Yeo Revealed

A major new portrait of the actor Kevin Spacey as Richard III will be one of several new works by Jonathan Yeo to be included in a major display of the artist’s work at the National Portrait Gallery this September.The large painting shows Spacey in role as Shakespeare’s notorious king, amongst his most acclaimed roles, during his tenure as artistic director of The Old Vic Theatre. Painted during the run of Sam Mendes’s 2011 Old Vic production, the oil-on-canvas work draws on the great tradition of the theatre portrait. Believed to be the actor’s first ever portrait Spacey is shown in full costume having been painted by Yeo both in his studio and on stage. Yeo saw him play the role both with and without an audience, and sketched and took photos of him working backstage.Dominating the canvas, Spacey wears a rakishly tilted crown and peers directly at the viewer.

Jonathan Yeo says: ‘When Kevin came to London to take over the Old Vic, critics were lining-up to predict that he'd only last a few months before jumping straight on a plane back to Hollywood. The fact he has stuck at it for 10 years, revitalising the international reputation of British theatre, made him an obvious choice for inclusion in my first display at the National Portrait Gallery.
‘We decided to put him in character as Shakespeare's notorious villain, partly as a nod to the tradition of theatrical portraits of the past, and partly as a celebration of what may go down as his most memorable stage role. The main dilemma with painting a great actor in a role is knowing how much you are portraying the man and how much the character he is playing. In the end I tried to leave it to the viewer to decide for themselves. It’s been Richard III’s year, from being unearthed in a Leicester Council car park to being on display at the National Portrait Gallery. Not a bad showing for someone who's been dead for six centuries!’

Jonathan Yeo Portraits (11 September 2013-5 January 2014), the National Portrait Gallery’s first display dedicated to the artist’s work, will include innovative portraits – all produced from life – of some of today’s leading cultural, media and political figures, many of whom sat for portraits for the first time with Yeo.

The display will present an overview of the artist’s work to date, beginning with the drawings he made of the party leaders on the 2001 campaign trail, and including private studies of his family and portraits of well known figures such as media mogul Rupert Murdoch, model Erin O’Connor, artist Grayson Perry and actress Sienna Miller.

Jonathan Yeo is one of the most highly regarded portrait painters working in Britain today. A regular exhibitor in its BP Portrait Award, the National Portrait Gallery commissioned Yeo to paint a portrait of broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson in 2010.

Jonathan Yeo Portraits is curated by the Gallery’s Contemporary Curator, Sarah Howgate, whose exhibitions include the highly successfulLucian Freud Portraits (2012) and David Hockney Portraits (2006).
She says: ‘We are excited to be showing Jonathan Yeo's portraits as part of our ongoing series of projects with contemporary artists from Alex Katz to Humphrey Ocean. Yeo is remarkable in the range of sitters he portrays from life and this display will include some surprising contemporary figures who have never sat for a portrait artist before.’
Jonathan Yeo Portraits, supported by the David Ross Foundation and The Tony Banks Memorial Trust Ltd, is in the Contemporary Collection displays on the Ground Floor Lerner Galleries, National Portrait Gallery, London, 11 September 2013-5 January 2014. Admission free.

 Visit Exhibition Here

http://www.artlyst.com/

Hyper-realistic Sculptures are Made Entirely of Wood by Tom Eckert

Artist and Professor Tom Eckert uses traditional processes to carve these hyper-realistic sculptures of everyday objects entirely made of wood. He uses plenty of carpentry techniques in his creative sculptured pieces, such as constructing, bending, laminating, carving and painting.

After receiving his M.F.A. degree from Arizona State University, Eckert began teaching at the university. He has exhibited his work in over 150 national and international exhibitions. Recently his incredible artwork has been featured in the Netherlands after getting lot of appreciation throughout the United States.

For more details about his work please visit Eckert’s website www.tomeckertart.com

http://www.thephotomag.com/http://www.thephotomag.com/2013/05/hyper-realistic-sculptures-are-made.html

Brandee Younger: Taxidermy, Two-Headed Skeletons And Jazz Harp

June 6, 2013Among the vestment racks, satchel purveyors and art galleries of New York's SoHo neighborhood lies a small merchant which peddles preserved insects, skulls, bones and other geological findings. Unnerved — well, mostly — the improvising harpist generates a Caribbean bounce amid the glass cases.

Giant Ocean Waves of Wood and Glass by Mario Ceroli

According to the New York Times sculptor Mario Ceroli is one of the least known yet most influential artists of the Italian post-war scene. His work spans over forty years and I encourage you to take a deep dive into his website to explore his wide range of installations and sculptures. Two of his most beautiful works depict crashing waves sculpted from thin layers of precisely cut wood and glass titled La Vague and Maestrale. The energy present in the works is remarkable as if any moment the materials are going to crash into the gallery floor. Also, if you’ve ever been to the Adelaide Botanic Garden in Australia you may have seen a similar piece by sculptor Sergio Redegalli called Cascade. (via connaissance des arts, claudio, and tate_ellen)

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/

Banksy – the most mysterious and controversial graffiti artist

British graffiti artist, political activist, director and talantische Banksy , probably the most popular and at the same time the most mysterious in the world of street artist. He became famous throughout the world due to its unique “guerrilla” style of stencil graffiti that appeared in a variety of public places – on the walls of buildings in London, Brighton, Bristol, even at the barrier in the West Bank between Israel and Palestine. But despite his worldwide fame, Banksy even so managed to keep the veil of secrecy around it, and anonymity. Around his real name and biography is a lot of controversy. According to the most popular version of his real name is Robert or Robin Banks.


Despite the fact that Banksy’s work shocking rather can be attributed to the genre of “kontrakultura,” his work has been exhibited in the most fashionable and prestigious galleries around the world. Among the collectors of his work many celebrities including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Christina Aguilera. Very hard to find at least some information about this person, so that the signature to some photos may not be entirely “from the author.”

Truck Banksy. (Banksy)

Graffiti in the heart of London. A group of people for a long time filled up the Royal Mail letters, requesting that one of the walls needed rebuilding. After repeated requests, it was decided to set the woods to find out what the problem there. Six days later, when the forests were removed, the facade is adorned with graffiti. Visible from afar, graffiti attracts the eyes of many people who were not even aware that this work Banksy. In March 2009, local authorities ordered his disguise, despite the desperate protests of the public. 

http://formyhour.com/