0.1% exhibition at NAVEL

As part of the upcoming program 0.1% organized by Dr.Yewande Pearse, NAVEL is looking for artworks, texts, as well as scientific projects that demystify how genomics inform identity. We are looking for artworks, ranging from sculpture and 2D work to video, film, text, sound, performance, AR/VR, immersive and/or participatory projects, that address the sociopolitical and/or psychological implications of readily available genetic information.

Our DNA – the script of our lives – is 99.9% the same across the human species. But differences in the remaining 0.1% hold important clues to who we are as individuals – a reality that begat the “quantified self” movement. The movement, also known as lifelogging, describes the trend towards using technology to acquire data on aspects of a person’s daily life, with the goal of improving physical, mental, and/or emotional performance.

Genetic information acquired by consumer testing companies like 23andMe can illuminate inner resources and limitations, functioning as a kind of oracle into the secrets of our bodies, identities and individualities. Still, many questions remain unanswered in regards to the impact of such inquiry on notions of the self and the socio-political.

0.1% explores what it means to uncover the genetic roots of who we are and who we could be. This week-long program demystifies how genomics inform identity, with an exhibition of works selected through an open call, the release of a Massive x NAVEL collaborative zine, an installation by neuroscientist and philosopher Dan Lloyd, discussions of scientific papers, and talks by influential figures whose work grows in the delta where hard science meets the arts.

Learn more about the exhibition here: https://navel.la/events/dna/

Learn more about the open call and the jury here: https://navel.la/news/dna-opencall/

Image from flickr, by the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.