Probably only a muddleheaded art critic would ask such a question about genetics, but here goes anyway: What’s the ontological status of a genotype? If a genotype is an organism’s genetic coding and a phenotype its genetically determined physical properties (brown eyes, big ears, etc.), then, given that genes themselves are physical, observable, genetically determined entities, isn’t a genotype a type of phenotype? Alternatively, if genotypes should be understood as pure information, an essentially intellectual construct, doesn’t this make them something of a linguistic, even metaphysical,

I could never keep the paint inside the lines either—I mean as a kid. My pictures always came out kind of sloppy looking, and there would be splotches of Elmer’s glue squishing out from between two sheets I tried to stick together—ugh! No wonder I didn’t continue making art. I’ll make a guess and say that Julia Warr must have experienced something similar in her youth, but maybe she was possessed of a more obstinate or simply less self-conscious character. In any case, she did keep making art and, more important, has continued to see her paint seep out across the lines, apparently with equanimity.