Professor Rich Pell‘s work “The Mermaid De-Extinction Project” is part of “Gene Cultures,” an opening exhibition for the new MIT Museum. Pell’s work, along with work of other Joe Davis, Heather Dewey Hagborg, Anna Dumitri, the Center for Genomic Gastronomy and others, will be presented alongside the Human Genome Project for the next two and a half years. The exhibition is curated by William Meyers.
The exhibition questions what happens as the pace of technological advances in the field of genetic discovery quickens. Who decides how and when transformative new biotechnologies will be used? What questions do we need to ask before making decisions leading to irrevocable results? “Gene Cultures” presents dramatic breakthroughs in genetic technologies and engages with artworks—witty, provocative, absurd, and profound—that prompt us to consider our future – now.