The America Project: Paul Vanouse @ Esther Klein Gallery

October 20 – November 19

Opening Reception, Thursday, October 20, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Esther Klein Gallery
3600 Market Street, Philadelphia

The America Project is a live, biological art installation that is centered around a process called “DNA Gel Electrophoresis,” colloquially described as “DNA Fingerprinting,” a process which the artist appropriated to produce recognizable images.

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. Upon entering the exhibition, viewers will be offered a 1 oz. cup of saline solution and asked to swish for thirty seconds, then deposit into the spittoon. During the installation the artist will be extracting the DNA from hundreds of different spit samples (containing cheek cells) all mixed together. The DNA will not be individuated nor retained. This DNA will be processed to make iconic DNA Fingerprint images of power—such as a crown, warplanes and a flag, which will be visible as video projections of the live electrophoresis gels throughout the exhibition.