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"Redeeming the Gene, Molding the Golem, Folding the Protein"

An Interactive Webwork by Sonya Rapoport
www.sonyarapoport.net

Reviewed by Ernestine Daubner,
Assistant Professor,
Department of Art History,
Concordia University,
Montreal, Canada

daubner@vax2.concordia.ca

Picture a site where diverse languages, originating from biblical words, mythic narratives, cultural histories, gendered stories, genetic science and the "artistÍs gene," are cast together. Sonya RapoportÍs latest webwork is the site of such heteroglossia. Binding disparate elements together with an ethical thread, replete with humor, irony and wisdom, Rapoport fashions an elaborate mythic parody that challenges the languages of art, culture and biotechnology. Welcomed to the homepage by Klezmer music, our eye is drawn to a modified image of Sandro BotticelliÍs, Birth of Venus. The iconic body emerging from the waters morphs into the biblical figure of Lilith, wading in a petri shell, her emblematic helmet covering DNA strands (of hair). She is the direct descendant of LUCA, the Last Universal Common Ancestor: a bacterium that settled in the Atlantic four billion years ago. Lilith was also the first wife of Adam. Originally molded from the earth as a golem, Adam later became man and patriarch who confiscated LilithÍs power to shape and form meaning through language. And so, Lilith left him. Cast hence as a demonic figure, she was denied a place in most biblical narratives. Now Lilith reappears, carrying, on her navel, the biblical Word that served to erase her identity. The apple, traditionally attributed to her maligned sister, Eve, the second wife of Adam, is held up to her by the primordial man, while the figure of the golem lies at her feet. Recast, in this intricate tale, as wise and righteous, both Lilith and Eve "reinvent themselves as they explore ethical and mythical biological processes." As one navigates through the site, and as the heroic adventures of Lilith and Eve unfold, one uncovers their mission to mold a golem and, thus, redeem the "artistÍs gene," created in Eduardo Kac`s transgenic artwork, Genesis (1998-1999). Following a network of paths and links, one encounters LilithÍs avatar, the Owl, who "with its Lasik treated laser eyes," inspects the languages which produced KacÍs "artistÍs gene": the biblical sentence from Genesis (King James version), the binary logic of the Morse code, and the DNA nucleotides. One discovers that these languages are a source of contamination, tainted by the "imperialism" of King James and the "bigotry" of Samuel F.B. Morse. In addition, the translated words subvert the Hebraic biblical intent and reassert the hegemony of English. Understanding how language informs DNA, LilithÍs Owl "flies to battle in a siege of language rapes." Also fearing that the "artistÍs gene" is a "rogue gene," capable of mutating into an evil cyber-golem, "gene cis-ter Lilith and gene sister Eve share bytes from the apple" and plot to break free from KacÍs languages and create an alternative, wise and ethical kabbalah gene with which to mold a righteous golem protein. Their endeavors end well with the conception (in EveÍs womb) of the golem, a "metaphor for the ethical creation of humankind." While the Kac/cyber-golem is extinguished and the Kac/golem is redeemed, Lilith and Eve cleanse themselves in ritual bath retorts. There, they also revel in their own purification, in their own redemption from the language that had hitherto constructed their demonic identities. Significantly, RapoportÍs webwork discloses the diverse stratifications of meaning lying within ancient, modern and contemporary words, and particularly the power of language to inform, reform and deform genetic, and gendered, identities. By creating diverse contexts for biblical words, binary thought patterns, biotechnological practices, Rapoport invites us to critically reflect on how language, and the knowledge systems it engenders, can have supremacy over us. At the same time, she illustrates how language is rewritten, and how it can be redeemed.

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