• Are you the perfect specimen?
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Are you the perfect specimen?

by Lauren Lee McCarthy & Casey Reas

MP4 accompanied by an ERC-721 token certified by Verisart

3840 x 2160 px

Edition of 3 + 2 APs

$8,000.00
$8,000.00
I want to own some of you.
Just enough to make a copy.

Are you the perfect specimen? is an extension of Lauren Lee McCarthey’s Saliva series of artworks including Free Saliva Exchange and Saliva Bar, which premiered at her solo exhibition at the Mandeville Art Gallery in San Diego. These works ask questions about bodily autonomy and control. Are you the perfect specimen? was co-directed by Casey Reas, with cinematography by long-term collaborator Gabriel Noguez. Here, they imagine a tongue-texting interface that slowly and rhythmically connects to the viewer: 

This is a free saliva exchange.
What are three reasons someone might want your saliva?
Whose saliva would you like to own?
Spit in a tube and take someone’s spit home with you.
Spit anywhere you like.
...

 

Credits:

Gabriel Noguez, Cinematography
Wylie Kasai, Production Assistance

 

 

About Lauren Lee McCarthy & Casey Reas

Lauren Lee McCarthy is an artist examining social relationships in the midst of surveillance, automation, and algorithmic living. She creates performances inviting viewers to engage. To remote control her dates. To be followed. To welcome her in as their human smart home. To attend a party hosted by artificial intelligence. Lauren is the creator of p5.js, an open-source creative coding platform that prioritizes inclusion and access with over 10 million users worldwide. She is also Professor at UCLA Design Media Arts. Lauren’s work has been recoginzed by Creative Capital, United States Artists, LACMA, Sundance, Eyebeam, MacDowell, Pioneer Works, and Ars Electronica, among others.

Casey REAS is an artist and professor at UCLA. REAS’ software, prints, and installations have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions in the US, Europe, and Asia. REAS’ work is included in a number of private and public collections, including the Centre Pompidou, LACMA, and the Whitney Museum. REAS holds an MA in Media Arts and Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Are you the perfect specimen?