Lynn Hershman Leeson - Anti-Bodies

At the center of this publication is Lynn Hershman Leeson‘s installation The Infinity Engine, modeled after a genetics laboratory. The artist demonstrates that the boundaries between natural and artificial life are dissolving at an increasingly rapid pace in the age of synthetic biology and that today, life itself can be artificially shaped. This includes DNA manipulation, artificial human organs manufactured via 3D-bioprinting, antibody research, and the use of DNA as a biological storage medium. Leeson presents these achievements as works of art embedded in an inimitable aesthetic. Documenting these work cycles in photographs of the exhibition at the HeK Basel, this volume also contains numerous essays that offer both a scientific context and insight into this trailblazing media artist’s oeuvre and her current focus on biotechnology.

The artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson (*1941, Cleveland, Ohio) has been examining the interplay of technology, media, and identity since the 1960s. Her body of work includes photography, film, video, objects, and installations, computer-based art, software, and performance. Her work is on display in prominent museums around the world. Leeson divides her time between New York and San Francisco.

Published by Hatje Cantz, edited by Sabine Himmelsbach, 2016