Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg creates “Stranger Visions” from stuff we discard publicly without a second thought. Gleaning genetic information from things like chewing gum and cigarette butts, Dewey-Hagborg creates detailed masks of what the person might look like, raising questions about privacy and the implications of genetic tampering. See more images and a short video of Dewey-Hagborg discussing her project below.

The video above was co-directed by Emily Sheskin and Veena Rao, with art direction and animation by Eric Rothman.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg’s Website

Via My Modern Met