Throughout the US, facilities known as biobanks house the genetic information of millions of citizens. Filled with biological samples routinely collected at hospitals and medical centers, biobanks preserve our medical specimens for public and private research, often conducted with minimal informed consent. Artist and biohacker Heather Dewey-Hagborg (Born 1982, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; active New York, New York) considers the hidden homes of our DNA with an installation comprised of three works.
Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Installation of “Is a Biobank a Home?” in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution
Banked explores the architectural and cultural footprint of these spaces while searching for the location of her own biological specimens, beginning with her “blood spot card”—the blood drawn at birth from every newborn to be screened for disorders. “Correspondence Song” tracks the artist’s exchanges with medical institutions and third parties as she attempts to track down her samples, and “Self-Portrait (Pathology)” is constructed from specimen slides she obtained when requesting samples of her own bloodwork stored in the medical institution’s biobanks. Dewey-Hagborg’s investigation addresses the potential lives of our DNA at the intersection of surveillance, cutting-edge science, privacy, and legal and ethical concerns.
Special thanks to Fridman Gallery.
CORRESPONDENCE SONG
“Correspondence Song,” written by Heather Dewey-Hagborg, tracks the artist’s exchanges with medical institutions and third parties as she attempts to track down her blood samples. This track is audible in the gallery where visitors explore the artist’s installation.
Dear Director Bixler,
I was born in Philadelphia at Pennsylvania Hospital in 1982. Would it be possible for me to obtain my records?
Dear Compliance office,
I am a patient in New York. I have read the privacy policy and would like a list of the times my information has been shared in the last six years, whom it has been shared with, and why. My health information may be used for research without my explicit consent.
Dear Privacy office,
I am a patient of Weill Cornell. I have read the privacy policy and become aware that my information may be used. I would like to be informed if it was shared.
I am a patient whose services utilize LabCorp for biological analysis (blood tests, DNA, etc.)
…
Dear Compliance office,
I never received a response . . .
Dear Privacy office,
I never received a response . . .
I would like to request an accounting of what research use has been made of my data. I would like to be informed if my information was shared. I would also like to know what third parties have accessed my de-identified data.
…
Dear Ms. Dewey-Hagborg,
Thank you for contacting. Unfortunately, we are not able to provide you with such information.
Dear Ms. Dewey-Hagborg,
This is in response to your Accounting of Disclosures and Accounting of Research requests. Neither New York, nor federal law, nor the statewide health information network require us to account for uses and/or disclosures of de-identified information.
Dear Ms. Dewey-Hagborg,
Thank you for reaching out for an accounting of disclosures. An accounting of disclosures report concluded that there are no accounting of disclosures on file for you.
Please be assured that we value our patients’ privacy.