Mary Maggic is an artist using biohacking methodologies to inform their practice, examining the relationship between biotechnology and cultural discourse. Maggic's most recent projects Open Source Estrogen and Estrofem! Lab generate DIY protocols for the extraction and detection of estrogen hormone from bodies and environments, demonstrating its micro-performativity and potential for mutagenesis, i.e. gender-hacking. The project has workshopped around the world and collaboratively with members of Hackteria, GynePunk Lab, and the Aliens in Green, and has received Honorary Mention in the Prix Ars Electronica 2017 Hybrid Arts category. They have a BSA in Biological Sciences and Art from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT Media Lab. Maggic grew up in a Chinese-speaking community in Los Angeles and now resides in Vienna.
Projects by Researcher @ Hangar
Abstract / axes of work
1- [schizophyllumcheese] How to make cheese with Schizophyllum Commune. Apparently Schizo produces the same types of lactose coagulating enzymes that lactobacillus and cheese making microbes produce. When cheese is made with Schizo fermentation rather than lactobacillus fermentation it contains Beta-glucans and other anticarcinogenic substances
A collaborative, interdisciplinary research project, Open Source Estrogen combines biohacking and speculative design to demonstrate the entrenched ways in which estrogen is a biomolecule with institutional biopower. It is a form of biotechnical civil disobedience, seeking to subvert dominant biopolitical agents of hormonal management, knowledge production, and anthropogenic toxicity. The project begins with a speculative question: what if it was possible to make estrogen in the kitchen?