Two 3D printed portraits, with holographic video presented on Looking Glass technology.

This triptych of computationally-generated genetic portraits complicate the legacy of scientist James Watson, co-discoverer of the structure of DNA and one of the first people to publicly publish their genome. His fascination with the function of genes, and belief in genetic causality of human nature, led him to troubling reductionist views encompassing race, sex, ethnicity, and intelligence.

The study of genetics has its origin in the study of eugenics, the theory that human traits are purely genetic and that humanity can be improved through selective breeding. This ghost of eugenic belief continues to haunt the study of genetics to this day.
By showing a multitude of different interpretations of how James Watson might look based on DNA alone, we confront the true complexity of life and the entanglement of genetics with expression, environment and serendipity.