Heather Dewey-Hagborg

SELL/BIO is a hybrid bioart/tactical media project investigating the transformation of human bodies into corporate profits, specifically the ethically controversial and largely unregulated practice of extracting and selling human DNA. By using the full arsenal of bioinformatics algorithms available today I intend to learn as much as I can about the individuals whose bodies are for sale and to visualize this by creating portraits of these people fabricated in their very own cells; using their commodified bodies as the very material of the portrait.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg is a transdisciplinary artist and educator who is interested in art as research and critical practice. Her controversial biopolitical art practice includes the project Stranger Visions in which she created portrait sculptures from analyses of genetic material (hair, cigarette butts, chewed up gum) collected in public places.

Heather has shown work internationally at events and venues including the World Economic Forum, Shenzhen Urbanism and Architecture Biennale, the New Museum, the Centre Pompidou and PS1 MOMA. Her work has been widely discussed in the media, from the New York Times and the BBC to TED and Wired.
Heather has a PhD in Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is an affiliate of Data & Society.