Post-human Prototype 01

“Post-human prototype 01” is the first sculpture in a series of physical and responsive artworks that are intended to help me explore the question: “What is the human in the context of the post-human”? In other words, what is the human element in a world that has moved past the “human” as we know it? I am interested in colliding the human form and elements of recycled technology as if they belong together.

For the representation of the human form, I have decided to use my body as the subject of the study. I have created facial moulds that resemble “death masks” that can be found in art museums and anthropological collections. The computer boards have been selected to match the form factor of the human head and layer on the back of the face. The intention is to get the viewers to wonder about the authenticity of the artwork: is it a real technological breakthrough? Is it possible that we are actually witnessing a “specimen” of human achievement in building a “post-human”? And if so, what does it all mean? The intention of the artist here is to evoke exploration, captivation and fantasy as described by Brigid Costello and Ernest Edmonds in their paper “A Study in Play, Pleasure and Interaction Design” 2007.

The “post-human Prototype 01” is displayed in a glass dome on a small pedestal as often can be seen in museums or special collections. I wanted the viewer to have a sense of authenticity and believable representation of a true “post-human specimen”. I have used traditional display techniques not only to present the artwork in a more finished and polished way, but also to give it an aura of “scientific truth” and therefore commenting and questioning as an artist the contemporary scientific knowledge of “what is the human”.

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