Being Adopted
Via online crowdsourcing, 252 adult adoptees from 16 countries responded to the question: “If you could choose any 3 words to describe your experience as an adoptee, which ones would you choose?” The 371 unique words generated are transcribed onto colored cards suspended using fishing line and lead weights, creating an immersive environment of adoptee voices.
adopted, adoptee, adult adoptee, Nicole Rademacher, adoptee Nicole Rademacher, being adopted
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Being Adopted

Being Adopted, 2020/2024, installation view. Photo: Matías MR. Courtesy of the artist.

2020 / 2024
Participatory installation + two-channel video
Hand-inscribed index cards, monofilament, lead weights, chairs, table, playable card sets; digital video
Dimensions variable

Being Adopted began in late 2019 with an online questionnaire asking adoptees: “If you could choose any three words to describe your experience as an adoptee, which ones would you choose?” 255 people in 16 countries responded, producing 373 distinct words.

 

I transcribed each response by hand onto index cards and suspended them individually from monofilament and lead weights at varying heights. Rather than organizing the responses into categories, the installation disperses them through space. Viewers move among words that repeat, contradict, overlap, or remain singular.

 

In 2024, the project expanded into playable card sets and a two-channel video. One channel uses cards printed with individual responses; the other counts and displays the 373 distinct words. Across questionnaire, transcription, suspension, video, and play, the responses operate as data, language, object, and encounter.

 

The project also extended into a series of online art-making groups with adoptees in 2020.

 

Selected presentations

2023 — Through the Eyes of Adoptees, Encompass Adoptees, organized by Heather Gonzalez, Columbus, OH.

Selected participant responses on the colored index cards from Being Adopted presented as a digital slideshow; full installation not exhibited.

Being Adopted, 2020/2024, installation view. Photo: Nicole Rademacher.
Being Adopted, 2020/2024, participant responses, detail.
Being Adopted, 2020/2024, participant response, detail.