New Work
BIOMETRICAL DATA, A FAMILY PORTRAIT
BIOMETRIC SELF PORTRAIT
WHITE WORK for 169 SYRIAN CHILDREN
GENETIC INHERITANCE
See images and description at: http://www.reed.edu/art/ondrizek/
After my sabbatical at the Max Plank in Berlin where I studied the work of George Geilple and the origins of Biometric Data (see The Origins of Biometric Data), I embarked on a body of work that comments on the surveillance systems used in the extreme vetting process for refuges entering the US.
When a refuge applies to come to the US they go through extreme vetting which includes all forms of their biometric data collection. It is a 20 step process, and takes five to seven years. They are fully vetted by both the UN and then the US. What is taken: hand and finger prints, photos of the Iris, facial recognition cages made from frontal photos, ear shape, voice recognition, hand writing/signatures and a DNA Profile. Since I am from an immigrant family from Eastern Europe and my husband’s family is Palestinian, I decided to make a set of works based on this collection using myself and my family. We work with Syrian refuges in Portland so the piece White Work is a result of helping refugees here and honoring them.
Biometric Data, A Family Portrait
Is comprised of family photos and facial recognition taken from each black and white photo of family members. The program used is described in detail below. The system was not publicized or put on line, and in the end there is a book of all data. The quilt and the book made has an abstraction of the faces, in fact the piece in the end obscures the system of biometric data gathering.
A Biometric Self Portrait
A Biometric Self Portrait was made from glass cast of my hands, fingerprints and ears, the most vital area to have biometric information gathered. The cast were done with geltrate a material that duplicates a perfect detail of your body and is used in forensics. Given that these and all aspects of our body is completely unique, these permeate pieces will record my biometrics forever.
White Work FOR 169 SYRIAN CHILDREN
I hand embroidered signatures of Syrian children who recently arrived in Portland. ( I volunteer with these children). These are on antique “White Work” a western tradition of making “pure textiles” with white on white for table linens and in earlier time religions cloths. “White Work” was originally done in the middle east and imported during the crusades for Lentin alter cloths.
Genetic Inheritance
Using a Genetic inheritance mapping of each family member provided through a National Geographic Genetic test, I invented a system to measure our bodies genetic make-up. For example my test results were, 53% Iberian, 32% Eastern European,10% North Eastern Europe, 5% Central Asia. Each area is color coded by the Genetic team according the region so Iberia is fuchsia, Eastern Europe red, North Eastern Europe blue gray, Central Asia turquoise blue. I took these colors and made a self-portrait in which each color is represented in the percentage of my 5’ body on a silk panel. I blurred the edges as there is no real distinction. I did this for my husband and son as well. The panels are printed on six layers of silk, and will be hung in a space so light can flow thought them.
I see each project I am currently doing as an artist book. Each will be housed in a box or book like format. They can be opened, leafed through, hung, displayed and archived.