The Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, 2002
chewing gum, clear plastic grids, plexiglas containers, pencils
7 ft (H) X 10 ft (W) x 10 in (D)
One of the ways to do a DNA test is analyzing chewed “chewing gum.” People chew pieces of gum, stick them on the clear plastic grids on the wall and sign their names or simply write something. Some made bubbles and others made improvised gestural shapes while leaving their teeth marks and fingerprints on the gum.
As DNA designates one’s unique scientific identity, each piece of chewing gum represents the distinct character of individuality. DNA: Making a Mark is an assemblage of people’s personal expressions, marks, and signatures which when encountered by the viewer becomes a spontaneous, colorful, and gestural abstraction. An autonomous, biological and aesthetic work in its own right. This project also plays with the idea of a basic instinctive human desire to leave something unique and individualistic behind.
