Genetic Automata part 2: A lament for power

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<p>"Genetic Automata is a four-part series of video installations. The second, A Lament for Power, investigates how science can be used to understand the world – but also its commercial and political exploitation. Centring on Henrietta Lacks, and the unconsensual use of her 'immortal' cells to make world-changing discoveries such as mapping the human genome and the Polio vaccine, the work questions voices that are erased from society's narratives and in doing so, whose interests are served. Both the first and second parts employ spoken word soundtracks interspersed with imagery drawn from the contemporary video-gaming world, with specific reference to games with dystopian sci-fi narratives that in turn reference DNA ancestry and bio-terrorism."-- Summarised from documentation provided by curator.</p>
<p>"'Genetic Automata' is an ongoing body of video works by artists Larry Achiampong and David Blandy, exploring race and identity in an age of avatars, videogames and DNA ancestry. The series investigates where deeply ingrained ideas about race come from and the role that science has played in shaping these perceptions."-- From website. <a href="https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/ZAW0PxQAACcG-pX8">https://wellcomecollection.org/exhibitions/ZAW0PxQAACcG-pX8</a></p>

A lament for power / [Larry Achiampong & David Blandy].

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