Christina Mackie: IIP (Intron Image Project) explored our feelings of unease about the concept of genetic modification. It was designed to raise a number of questions about the ethical problems of creating new life forms and of making art. Is it possible to make a creative genetic contribution to the world without passing on your own genes? Is it necessary to have an obvious benefit in mind when modifying the genetic pattern of a life form? What are the implications of using genetics to make art that has a life span beyond that of its creator? Can a work of art be invisible?

The starting point for the work was a small black and white drawing of a cat. This was then converted to a DNA sequence. Could the DNA be inserted into the DNA of a common plant altering its genetic make-up forever? The project raised questions of how, when, and under what conditions any plants thus altered could be released into the environment.

Texts associated with the exhibition were added to the website as downloads in 2020, to activate the archive as part of the online Fortnightly Highlights programme during the early part of the Covid-19 Pandemic, March - September 2020.