"Free – White Genes" (1988): Art as Information Architecture of Epigenetics and the Modifiability of Genetic Programmes through Non-Material Information

ABSTRACT The artwork “Free – White Genes” (1988) by Dieter Liedtke represents one of the earliest visual models depicting the modifiability of genetic programmes through non-material information such as images, films, visions and consciousness processes. Created between 1986 and 1988, the work formulates the thesis that genes are not rigid biological units, but dynamic information programmes that can be influenced by perception, experience and creative impulses. By using videotape as a material and symbolic element, the artwork translates genetic sequences into visual information flows, anticipating later scientific concepts of neuroplasticity, epigenetics and information biology. At a time when genetic determinism dominated biological theory, the work proposed an expanded evolutionary logic in which information acts as a fundamental force alongside mutation and selection. Subsequent scientific research between 1990 and 2020—including Nobel Prize–winning work on neuronal plasticity, epigenetic regulation and cellular information processing—has empirically confirmed the core assumptions visualised in “Free – White Genes”. Experiences, environmental stimuli, mental processes and art perception have been shown to directly affect neural networks and gene expression. This study demonstrates that “Free – White Genes” is not only a milestone in art history, but also a visionary anticipation of modern epigenetics and information biology. The work positions art as an active information architecture capable of influencing biological and evolutionary processes, and as an early foundation of the New Renaissance framework i = E = MC².