“SUPERNATURAL: Sculptural Visions of the Body” addresses the future of the human body in the Anthropocene era. Given the technological developments in biogenetics, in the future, humans will be able to make existential modifications to all living things—nature, the animal world and human likenesses. What will the bodies of the future look like? Who or what will we be? In what type of environment will we live?
The exhibition offers us some possible answers through its hyperrealistic and realistic sculptures. These visionary works not only exemplify the impact of the digital revolution and genetic engineering on “posthumans” and the environment, but also illustrate, including in their own hybrid creations, how increasingly blurred the lines between nature, science and culture are now becoming.
Technical innovations are also having more and more impact on the development of the latest sculptures. In using 3D-printing to perfect their creation processes and pushing sculptural boundaries to encompass robotics and synthetic biology, artists are also opening the door to new design possibilities in artefact, biology and technology for themselves. The exhibition is divided into four major themes: “Hybrid Others” , “Postnature” , “Artist 4.0” and “Technological-Human-Metamorphoses” , which explores hybrid lifeforms, genetically modified organisms, future humans and robots, and technology's impact on life, respectively.