Larry Miller

Genomic License #5 (Alison Knowles Properties), 1992-97

Blood, skin, hair, fingernail samples, photographs, Genetic Code Copyright and Sale of Genetic Code Copyright certificate documents,Genomic License Agreement form, texts
Black and White photograph: Peter Moore © 1964
Color photographs: Larry Miller, art director & Travis Ruse, photographer
84 x 96 inches (overall installation)
(installation view)
Courtesy of the artist

When the patenting of animals was approved by the Supreme Court in the 1980ís, I reasoned that if DNA was to be commodified in the Genetic Revolution then humans would need legal rights to their personal genomes. The growing interest in the commercial potential of the DNA molecule seemed to me analogous to the alchemistsí golden quest for the philosopherís stone and the elixir of life. As in ancient alchemy, called simply ëthe artí by adepts, modern physical sciences continue a mission to discover reductive means to transmute the essential properties of matter and life itself. My response to these developments was to produce works viewing genomics as an art form - an approach which was a continuation of my interest in bridging issues of art, science and theology. Anticipating a widening debate on issues raised by genetic engineering, I proclaimed ëcopyrightí of my own genome in 1989. I then initiated a public action by publishing and distributing my Genetic Code Copyright forms internationally in eight languages to foster thousands of other such claims. Since then I have presented a body of works that I refer to collectively as ëGenestheticsí which explore ambiguities in science and art methods as well as the ethical and financial interests poised around the notion of the DNA molecule as a potential new mother lode.

Genomic License No.5 (Alison Knowles Properties) is one of a series in which ownership of an individual genome serves as the basis for marketing genetic traits as quantified, reproducible private ëpropertiesí. Selected characteristics manifest in Knowlesís physiology and behavior are presented as desirable phenotypic expressions and made commercially available for mining by licensees. Samples to provide her DNA are included with the Genomic License. Traits offered in the license, such as ëInternal Abundanceí (indicated by Knowlesís four kidneys and multiple ova production), are connoted in the documents and photographic ëIlluminationsí.