The America Project is a live, biological art installation centered around a process called “DNA gel electrophoresis,” colloquially described as “DNA fingerprinting,” a process which Paul Vanouse has appropriated to produce recognizable images.  The project premiered at the Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, on October 20, 2016, and received an Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica, Linz, in 2017.

Visitors to the installation first encounter what might resemble a human-scale fountain or decanter, which is actually a spittoon in which their donated spit is collected. Entering the exhibition, viewers are offered a one ounce cup of saline solution and asked to swish for thirty seconds. Their sample is then deposited into the spittoon. During the installation, Vanouse extracts the DNA from dozens of combined spit samples—containing cheek cells and the cells’ DNA—all mixed together.  The DNA is not individuated nor retained; it is processed as a whole to make iconic DNA fingerprint images of power—including a crown and flag—which are visible as video projections of the electrophoresis gels throughout the exhibition.

Paul Vanouse is an artist working in Emerging Media forms. Radical interdisciplinarity and impassioned amateurism guide his practice. Since the early 1990s his artwork has addressed complex issues raised by varied new techno-sciences using these very techno-sciences as a medium. His artworks have included data collection devices that examine the ramifications of polling and categorization, genetic experiments that undermine scientific constructions of race and identity, and temporary organizations that playfully critique institutionalization and corporatization. These “Operational Fictions” are hybrid entities–simultaneously real things and fanciful representations–intended to resonate in the equally hyper-real context of the contemporary electronic landscape. See more of Paul's work at paulvanouse.com.

Visit the opening performance of America Project in Bibliowicz Family Gallery in Milstein Hall on Sep 17, 2022 at 4:30pm. The exhibition will remain open for viewing until Oct 7, 2022.

2022 Cornell Biennial
Sponsored by the Cornell Council for the Arts and curated by Timothy Murray, the 2022 Cornell Biennial "Futurities, Uncertain" features exhibitions, installations, and performances by 23 international and 17 Cornell-based artists. Free and open-to-the-public events will rotate on the Cornell Ithaca campus and the Cornell Tech campus in New York City from July through December 2022.

Attend our Celebration Weekend from Sep 15-17, 2022 on the Cornell Ithaca campus. The full list of participants, along with the calendar of 2022 Cornell Biennial events, will be updated in real time at cca.cornell.edu/biennial.