In thinking about my family history, it's really a miracle that I exist. What would have happened if just two of my great great grandparents hadn't met one another? Would a different version of me exist? Would I even be here at all? How could it be that a seemingly coincidental meeting of two random people in the late 1800s could determine my existence??

I approached these questions in creating Fortuita Puella, an interactive web art project that examines my ancestral make-up and how it is that I came into being. I use scientific and technical imagery to present my existence as formulaic and explainable, which, arguably, it is not. Four specific scenes compose Fortuita Puella: a biological diagram, a set of blueprints, a scientific specimen collection, and an x-ray.

The piece opens with a biological diagram of a branch, which serves as a sort of home “page” inside of a book. The branch moves slightly and is not connected to the tree where it originated, because my understanding of my “family tree” is always changing and ultimately disconnected from the very beginning of my ancestry. The diagram is labeled with figure numbers, each button leading to another piece of supporting evidence in my research.

“Fig. 1” leads to blueprints. In imagining my family and my existence as a planned out project, a blueprint provides logical, visible and even “tangible” proof of how I was constructed. If just one thing had gone wrong in that plan - if my Great Grandma Marie Chuckery didn’t attend a Friday night dance and meet my Great Grandfather Adam Pachesky - I might be someone else, or not exist at all.

“Fig. 2,” leads to the specimen collection. Within the frame are torn pieces of photos of my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents. Each piece is the appropriate size and portion of what composes me - one-half of each of my parents, one-fourth of each of my grandparents and one-eighth of each of my great grandparents. The pieces begin as a pile and can be moved and assembled into portraits of “me” by the user. As the pile is depleted it reveals one whole, but very small, image of me. Each constructed image is labeled with a Latin name (hence, Fortuita Puella, or roughly “Accidental Girl”) to properly identify the biological specimens.

Finally, “fig. 3” leads the user to an x-ray image of my hand. As the participant scrolls over the image, clusters of words are revealed under the cursor, or under the skin. Depending on how the participant moves the cursor, a different sequence of words and phrases about my family history and research is constructed each time, hopefully making new meaning for the user.

As an artist who works primarily in video, this project originally began as a video self-portrait that used similar imagery to explore my questions of identity and existence. I found, however, that the medium created a relatively passive approach. Interactive, accessible web feels much more effective, as Fortuita Puella is not about me alone, but is meant to prompt others to think about their own being.