From a distance, privacy filters for standard computer monitors obscure the content of the three prints. Held at an angle, the privacy filters reveal more information upon approach.
The triptych is mounted to the wall with black anodized aluminum rods and faceplates.
White handwriting and text appear on all three prints.
The installation presents three versions of the same letter at different stages of redaction.
In addition to withholding information, the privacy filters act as a black mirror by reflecting the appearance of the reader.
Mitochondrial DNA has been used by genetic genealogists to trace matrilineal history. This triptych demonstrates the methodology of redaction and erasure of the original text written by the artist’s maternal grandmother.
In the first image, the words that remain contain one of the characters representing the nucleobases of the DNA sequence (A, G, C, or T). The second iteration shows only the letterforms, and the third is entirely effaced.
Georges Perec and M. NourbeSe Philip served as a point of inspiration for the constrained writing in this work.
Reading the Sequence (Triptych)
Digital prints, privacy filters, glass, wood, and anodized aluminum.
2019 | 52" x 21" x 18"
Digital prints, privacy filters, glass, wood, and anodized aluminum.
2019 | 52" x 21" x 18"