Global communication could not be expressed better than delving straight into the depths of what makes things alive and breathing. The world is connected by the book of double helix molecules. My plan is to go back in time and transliterate DNA sequences directly, to give birth to innovative, never before heard pieces of sound creatures. Breathe new life by re-interpreting that which we all possess: directions for living.
Nowadays, the ability to retain knowledge of any DNA sequence opens new doors. In medical research, DNA sequencing is used to identify genes, diagnose existing diseases and for research in development of treatments. Currently, the fastest way to sequence snippets of DNA is by an automated machine using fluorescent dyes to mark each base. In one mixture, each base is paired with a color that fluoresces at a certain wavelength. Once the machine separates pieces of DNA and reads the wavelength, it can portray an accurate depiction of what the sequence reads in the form of a colorful graph.(1) This graph looks very much like a sound wave and this is where my inspiration took place.
Transcription, to transcribe, acts of extracting heart juices out of the masses. Density, matter, compression, creation. Four simple bases code for amino acids, then for proteins, then subtle formations of life and working systems. Mutations occur all the time, all living beings are mutants of one another, connected by the basic form of the double helix. Now step back and wonder, what other kinds of effects could have materialized if the apparent mutations and genetic drift did not unfurl in the way they did. What if the proteins and puzzle pieces were transcribed differently to produce divergent mutants in the world?
This is what my project will address: a new kind of re-interpretation. I will focus on important parts of the genome, as over 95% of it is actually “junk” DNA with no apparent coding. Perhaps I can compare songs of coding for ears in different species based on a phylogenetic tree of mammals. I will compose short histories of evolution in the form of sound and perhaps choose interesting snippets, then re-interpret them back into DNA sequences, amino acids, and proteins they may produce, what kind of being may have a sweeter song to our ears? Of coarse controversy may arise in what kinds of things may be considered “sweeter”, especially in such a global community as our world is today. On account of this, I would like to create a sort of systems art with a user interface able to make choices for what kinds of instruments you would like to assign to sequences. The audience would not only be able to control the organic sounds, but the kinds of controversial genes they would like to juxtapose with one another to create beats of genes and sounds of proteins. Future science advances may open the opportunities to create your own sound from within if you attained a genetic record of your own genome.
References
1) DNA Sequencing. Wikipedia.org. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_sequencing]
2) Kimball, Dr. John W. Harvard. DNA Sequencing. [http://home.comcast.net/~john.kimball1/BiologyPages/D/DNAsequencing.html]
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Hey, I've thought about your concept a bit. I think you really have to find an interesting process for converting the information into sound. DNA is very interesting in its function as a seed for eventual physical realization, but the information itself isn't that interesting! I think you need to think of some sort of process that is analogous to the way that information from DNA is made into physical reality--something of similar complexity, intricacy, and self-similarity. Because, after all DNA is interesting because of what it eventually "becomes"... and maybe the most mysterious aspect of that is the conversion process. I'm sure you understand that much better than I do, with what you study... but maybe analyzing that, as well as the DNA itself, could be fruitful.
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