HUMAN

Human is a limited edition artist’s book that is a graphic visualization of my DNA results, as interpreted by 23andMe, the genetic testing company.

The book consists of 100 pages in 10 ten-page accordion-folded signatures, folded to 3.5 x 3.5" squares and contained in a handmade wooden box. Each page is one percent of my DNA.

The book form is internally compact, much like our DNA, but opens expansively. With propagation so do our genes unfurl into the world – genetic messengers from past to future generations.

Collage was used as an image-making method for its ability to combine, layer and juxtapose found pictures that evoke unknown ancestors and circumstances. Signature eight (pp. 71-80) has explanatory text about my family roots.

Human was digitally printed on Mohawk Superfine 100# text paper by Smart Set, Minneapolis, Minnesota. The signatures were cut and folded by hand. The wooden box features a laser-cut title and is hand made from oak and basswood and finished with tung oil.

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Related to race – both genetic background and identity – see this essay I wrote for the AIGA: Not Quite White.

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DISSEMINATION

Acquired by Bainbridge Island Art Museum, Washington (2022).

Acquired by University of Minnesota Library Gorman Collection (2022).

Acquired by Stanford University Library Department of Special Collections (2022).

S. McCarthy (2023) Ink, Press, Repeat: national juried printmaking and book art exhibition. William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey.

Acquired by DePaul University Library Department of Special Collections (2023).

Acquired by University of Washington Library (2023).