In this Zoom conversation, biohacker Heather Dewey-Hagborg and activist Chelsea Manning discuss their collaborative projects exploring genetic phenotyping and identity, the relationships between biosurveillance and biopower, and the usefulness of speculation in a tumultuous present. Also: a virus engineered to help people fall in love.
About the Speakers:
HEATHER DEWEY-HAGBORG, who is featured in the Walker’s exhibition Designs for Different Futures, is an information artist and biohacker who creates speculative projects that critique issues of technology, surveillance, and image culture. Heather’s work has been discussed broadly in the international media, in publications such as the New York Times, Wired Magazine, and the Guardian. She is an artist in residence at the Exploratorium, San Francisco; and a visiting assistant professor of interactive media at NYU Abu Dhabi and received a PhD in electronic arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She is the recipient of the New Technology Art Award and a Creative Capital award and her work is in the collections of several museums including the Pompidou and the V&A, and has been displayed in numerous triennials, biennials, and even the World Economic Forum, where her work with Chelsea was first premiered.
CHELSEA MANNING is as an activist, technologist, and former intelligence analyst who in 2010 publicly disclosed a trove of US military and diplomatic documents, exposing a range of governmental abuses related to the Afghan and Iraq Wars. She has received a host of international awards that celebrate her courage and the global impact of her activism, including the US Peace Prize in 2013 and the EFF Pioneer Award in 2017. As a public speaker, Chelsea is now a highly visible leader in both the movements for transgender justice and government accountability. She lectures, writes, and tweets on everything from cryptocurrency to human rights to machine learning, and most recently you can find her on Twitch, where you can watch her livestreams of games such as Minecraft and Cities: Skylines.
Part of the Insights 2021 Design Lecture Series. Copresented by the Walker Art Center and AIGA Minnesota.
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Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Probably Chelsea, 2017. Courtesy the artist.
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Heather Dewey-Hagborg. Photo: Ana Brígida for the New York Times.
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Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Radical Love: Chelsea Manning, 2015. Photo: Thomas Dexter.
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Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Lovesick: The Transfection, 2019. Courtesy the artist.
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