by Patricia Frischer
Did you know that a piece of gum picked up in a gutter, can be so thoroughly probed and analyzed and with a
certain amount of expense, an actual picture of the gum chewer can be produced?
Melissa Walter finds forensic
technology fascinating. Not the portrait aspect, which by the way, is not
included in this conceptual exhibition,
but the fact that DNA information can increasingly be used to convict the accused. That includes, the rightly accused
and help to clear the falsely accused.
This exhibition Plexus is
a way for Walter to immerse herself in the process and she does using many
mediums. She has handwritten sequences of information used as a decision tree
for eye color. She uses ceramics and synthetic hair to create double helix shapes
which reference time sequences. Smudgy little watercolor marks are arranged in
lines and columns. Her quest is to
demonstrate the messiness of the process, while at the same time humanizing it.
A video and related sculpture
feature the C, A, T, G of nucleotides. the organic molecule that is the fundamental
building block of DNA and RNA. The video is 13 minutes long. The average time it
takes a person to use DNA to prove innocence is 13 years. Yes, life is messy.
Melissa Water is a 2020 San Diego Art
Prize recipient, and this series continues her work from her exhibition
at Bread and Salt.
Manuel
Alejandro Rodríguez-Delgado uses found material to create
self-contained survival systems which are sculptures in this exhibition titled Futuros
Itinerantes.. They are partly inspired by Star Trek, partly by the U.S.
Space Program and also by Puerto Rico's late-1980s bid to host the 2004
Olympics, and the slogan "We can do it."
Both exhibitions are on view through Dec. 29, 2024
Institute
of Contemporary Arts San Diego-North
1550 S. El Camino Real, Encinitas.
Free.
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