DNA DATA
Exhibition
Abstract
New technologies in the field of DNA analysis make a discourse on data protection in the field of genetic data necessary. DNA phenotyping is being used more and more frequently in practice and allows far-reaching statements to be made about the carrier:in DNA on the basis of the smallest DNA traces. Furthermore, the DNA databases of commercial genealogy institutes are becoming increasingly larger and are now reaching proportions never before achieved by government databases.
These two innovations in technology are being used more and more actively by law enforcement agencies to solve crimes. Insurance companies would like to avoid insuring people who have a predisposition to serious diseases in the first place. And in China, all-encompassing state DNA registries are being built based on these technologies for state control.
What is missing is a way of dealing with this technical progress at the legislative level. Political actors urgently need to act and introduce laws that regulate the handling of this highly sensitive data. But private individuals should also be aware of what is within the realm of the possible and what has already arrived in practical use on the basis of this involuntary transparency of their own genetic material.
Our exhibition DNA Data starts at this point. We create an awareness of the new technologies and their possible effects. We challenge a discourse with the topic and collect an opinion that can be passed on to political decision-makers. And we inform interested parties in the long term about changes in law, practice and everyday life.
PROLOGUE
At the beginning of the exhibition, an art installation opens the theme. On a small stele lies an even smaller, already chewed gum. Behind the stele there is - only blurredly visible through structural glass - a human being. What does the chewing gum have to do with the blurred representation of the human being? Does it have to do with the DNA on the chewing gum?
The first area of the exhibition welcomes you with an intro section, the first question machine and the juxtaposition of the traditional with the renewed DNA analysis.
WIR FRAGEN FRAGEN
In the course of the exhibition visit, we repeatedly ask questions. These are answered with the help of a punch card, which one is given when entering the exhibition. To answer a question, the punch card is inserted into the slot whose answer option one agrees with.
After the end of the exhibition, the data collected from all visitors will be summarized in a report and passed on to political decision-makers in order to contribute to the social discourse on the handling of genetically sensitive data. In order for this report to be statistically correct, opportunities to answer questions more than once must be eliminated. A punch card creates this possibility, can be read quickly and mechanically at the end of the exhibition and can then be taken home by the visitor.
PHENOTYPING
Phenotyping, also known as extended DNA analysis, allows far-reaching statements to be made about the person behind a genetic trace. Thus, pigmentation of eyes, skin and hair, age, biological sex, body size and biogeographical origin can be read relatively accurately from simple DNA traces.
The phenotyping room presents this in an exhibit. The exact workings of phenotyping are not yet discussed here. What is important is to know that it works and to be aware of what it can tell us.
The phenotyping room presents this in an exhibit. The exact workings of phenotyping are not yet discussed here. What is important is to know that it works and to be aware of what it can tell us.
Large parts of the content are projected onto the busts with the help of a beamer. Animations clarify the statements. Hair colors, eye colors, skin colors, body sizes and genders change every second.
IDENTICAL UNIQUENESS
After the previous room showed what phenotyping can tell us, this room is dedicated to the exact functioning of the technology. It is explained how matching SNPs can be read out and thus which physical characteristics the carriers possess.
DNA AKTUELL
An exhibition is an ideal, short-lived medium as a mindopener for a topic that is rather unknown to the interested public. In the field of DNA research, however, fundamental facts can change every year due to scientific developments. An exhibition would therefore be too selective in the long run. Therefore we have created the newspaper DNA Aktuell. This can be subscribed to at the end of the exhibition and will be published annually for a defined period (5 or 10 years are conceivable).
VISUAL IDENTITY
A seven-part poster series draws attention to our exhibition. The poster series consists of one main motif and six partial motifs, which together cover many application purposes.
