NEW YORK, NY.- Fridman Gallery is presenting for one more week Hybrid: an Interspecies Opera, Heather Dewey-Hagborg's third solo exhibition with the gallery. Comprising a film narrated by the artist and scored by Bethany Barrett, sculptural works, and animations, the exhibition explores the relationship of cutting edge genetic engineering to the very origins of pig domestication 10 millennia ago.

This documentary and personal narrative presents an intimate account of the interspecies relationship at the heart of the science of xenotransplantation–specifically the genetic engineering of pigs to supply human hearts. Comprising a film narrated by the artist, sculptural works, and animations, the exhibition explores the relationship of cutting edge genetic engineering to the very origins of pig domestication 10 millennia ago.

This documentary and personal narrative is set to an original score by composer Bethany Barrett and presents an intimate account of the interspecies relationship at the heart of the science of xenotransplantation–specifically the genetic engineering of pigs to supply human hearts.

The film begins from the question of whether CRISPR gene editing represents a radical rupture or rather a continuation of the millennia old practices of selective breeding. It presents documentary footage from rarely seen porcine research facilities and archaeological archives of early animal domestication at Ludwig Maxilimilians Universität (LMU) Munich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

The libretto is constructed from the words of key scientists engaged in this new field of research and archaeologists studying the origins of domestication, taken from original interviews conducted by the artist.

The film concludes with the creation of a set of memorial sculptures for the pigs we see on screen whose lives are taken to advance science and potentially save human lives. Drawing on cutting edge digital imaging and printing techniques we see the robotic construction of a clay sculpture which ends in flames–fired in a pit in the ground using the earliest of ceramic methods. The ancient and the high tech meet in an artwork that goes beyond simply educating audiences to making them feel the dramatic weight of these new technologies, their complexities and long histories. The result is an impressionistic glimpse of a biomedical field with massive implications for ethics, aesthetics, and the fluctuating state of human/non-human relations.

Dr. Heather Dewey-Hagborg is a transdisciplinary artist and educator who is interested in art as research and critical practice. Hagborg’s work has been exhibited at numerous museums worldwide and is held in the permanent collections of the Centre Pompidou, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Wellcome Collection, and the New-York Historical Society.

Fridman Gallery
Heather Dewey-Hagborg: Hybrid: an Interspecies Opera​
November 1st, 2023 – December 13th, 2023
Artist Talk and Closing Reception: Wednesday, December 13, 6pm