(IM)POSSIBLE BODIES

Role: Assistant Curator
Year: 2020
City: ‘s Hertogenbosch

(IM)POSSIBLE BODIES was an interactive virtual exhibition about cyborgs, data and artificial intelligence. It offered a digital voyage of discovery through augmented realities with robots, 3D artworks and avatars that meet in a comprehensive, shared and sensory online experience.

Artists:

Agi Haines
Algorithmic Justice League
Ali Eslami & Mamali Shafahi
Asa Horvitz
Bert Scholten
Claire L. Evans
Colin Self
Dadabots
Doris Ulrich
Drvg Cvltvr
Elise Marcus

Emma van der Leest
Fredric Baas
Gabber Modus Operandi
Geumhyung Jeong
Hannes Wiedemann
Hyperstition Duo
Héctor Zamora
Iris van der Tuin
Jara Rocha & Femke Snelting
Jelle de Graaf
Johanna Bruckner

Kali Malone
Labyrinth Psychotica
Luca Patuelli
Marsha Wichers
Mire Lee
Moon Ribas
Moor Mother
Neil Harbisson
Ningli Zhu
Noam Youngrak Son
Paul Segers
Petra Ardai
Pinar & Viola

Polymorf
Quintus Glerum
Red Brut
Redo Ait Chitt
Reeps One
Roanne van Voorst
Rosa Menkman
Saint Machine
Sander Veenhof
Simon Senn
Valerie Daude
Viviane Sassen

Press: Volkskrant, Glamcult, DAMN, Subbacultcha, and more.

(IM)POSSIBLE BODIES was a journey of discovery into the realm of cyborgs. Cyborgs already exist among us, inviting us to speculate on how our future of living and work might look like. Two terms are important in association with cyborgs: transhumanism and posthumanism. They are often used interchangeably, but there is a substantial difference in approach. Whereas transhumanism refers to cryonics, upgrading and beautifying ourselves with the help of technology, posthumanism goes a step further. Technology has become our second nature and shapes us as we interact with it. We evolve into different kinds of humans.

Posthumanism explicitly connects being human with the environment in which we grow up, live and work. This new order grounded in a feminist perspective sees an opportunity in the growing recognition that human beings are not the only intelligent species on this planet. It teaches us to be humble and to re-examine our human-centric behavior. Technology can be used to learn from and interact better with other species in our living environment. Such a starting point makes life an empathetic quest in which not the individual but the collective is embraced as a new source of living and dying together. This redirects focus to our primary inquiry: what does it mean to be human?

Over 40 international artists, performers and lecturers brought their perspectives from places such as Iran, Mexico, South Korea, China and Romania. Contributions consist primarily of large interactive installations such as Geumhyung Jeong’s Upgrade in Progress and VR works, including Symbiosis by Polymorf and newly commissioned works from Neil Harbisson, Viviane Sassen and Héctor Zamora.