Wong Kit Yi: ‘Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers’ | Art Basel Hong Kong
Wong Kit Yi presented an exhibition, Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers in the a.m. space booth at the Art Basel in Hong Kong from 27-31 March 2018. For the booth, MetaObjects installed a bio lab in collaboration with Dr. Yun Lam of City University Chemistry Department and ArtSciMedia. The project involved taking DNA samples of visitors using oral swabs and running a Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to magnify the sample and using Agarose Gel Electrophoresis to separate the maternal DNA. Visitors to the booth can leave their sample after signing a consent form and can then pick up their DNA at the booth at the end of the day after running the process. MetaObjects organised a team of helpers from the School of Creative Media to assist with the bio lab throughout the fair. In addition to the bio lab, MetaObjects also produced the subtitling and effects for Wong's video, Uploading Consciousness To A Lotus Root (2018).
About the exhibition
Magic Wands, Batons and DNA Splicers brings to the question: How long is forever? In legal contracts, genetics, art, and our personal lives, we often employ expressions like “in perpetuity”, “everlasting”, “permanent”, even “immortal”. Yet the meaning of these terms is different in every situation and often alters in response to changing circumstances. Wong Kit Yi's work traces this conundrum across history and into such current biotechnology fields as gene splicing and reverse aging. Works include sliding-box wall photograph pieces, double-sided drawings on hinges, a DNA sampling station, and a film structured in her signatures karaoke-inspired sing-along format, bringing together family lore, Hong Kong history, bizarre sea creatures, and the concepts of ownership and long-term leasing—all with an eye to what "transparency" means in these diverse but somehow deeply related contexts.
