#freedna

[allison-sommers]

“The Eggs of Antinous”, 1 x 1.5” (painting), 2.5 x 6” (assemblage). Gouache on paper in glass and metal frame with blood and found objects in vintage collaged matchbox. // Is it any wonder everything looks like a home to me? / I could crawl inside to be closer to thee. // Coming up at @antlerpdx on Halloween... #gouache #lovepoem #sporing #mask #bhoy #assemblage #foundobjects #freedna https://www.instagram.com/p/B3VGA0KjWIi/?igshid=6tnq2lis1yqu

[makekate]

I will give anyone my DNA I posted this Craigslist ad Monday evening. I wasn't hopeful anyone would see it but I was nervous about going out on Tuesday and not getting to interact with anyone so I posted it. My desire to share my biological material with others comes from an interest in understanding the matter we constantly produce, shed, and share as a connective and useful material for making things. I conceived of this project the day before ebola came to NYC and was hesitant to move forward with it given the change of context. However, I decided that it is even more important now to have calm discussions about our biological matter than before. I had planned to give out urine and saliva in vials but the vials didn't arrive in time and this was probably for the best. I had earwax, skin, nails, hair, and a cheek swab on offer. From the moment I began setting up my station, I was engaged in constant discussion. It was so busy! I had intended to keep notes and stats on anyone who took a photo, talked to me, or took a sample, but I had no time to. I got to talk to: + a rapper / film maker who didn't want to take a sample but hung around for around 40 minutes listening to all of the discussions (and occasionally interjecting) + a pubic hair fetishist who saw my ad and was disappointed that I only had head hair + an artist who questioned my project as "art" but who later conceded that it mostly met his requirements for "art" + a homeless dude who shared with me his stories of selling his clean urine to others at his shelter (he also requested one of each sample) + a guy who wanted me to "sign" the inside of his baggie with my thumb + a girl who wanted me to sign her baggie with a sharpie + some dudes who asked if I am a comedian + a guy who 'appreciated the metaphor of me giving away samples of myself and managing to insert myself into the work in multiple ways' (to paraphrase) + some reporters who saw my ad and dubbed me "craigslist dna lady" + a Union Square security guard who took some earwax + a few tourists + a group on an office scavenger hunt + and so many more... Many people would shake my hand after we met. This was amusing to me as an additional exchange of biological matter. As I got more into it, I began to have to develop a sort of operating code for myself. I decided that no request was too strange. I decided that I would not judge anyone who engaged with me because what I was doing was crazier than anything they could tell me. This meant that I was talking to a meth addict in the same breath as a wealthy white dude and that we were all engaging together. At one point I had six people crowded around me, all talking to me-- and one another. I gave away 17 samples of my DNA yesterday. Hair and skin were the most popular-- after an explanation of my motives in a spray of breathy microbes, that is.