While the vast majority of the population is consuming endless supplies of entertainment, a revolution is taking place right under their noses. The very genetic code of the planet’s biosphere is being tampered with; the ultimate goal being the ability to manipulate the biological processes of life itself. Our looming fate as a species may be embodied by monstrous, blasphemous combinations of human and animal genetic materials, of man/machine cyborgs, and of beings not only with increased capacities and extended lifespans, but also reengineered with a morality void of human compassion.
In the past two decades, dangerous genetic experimentation and exotic technologies have come out of the shadows to reveal human-animal hybrids, chimeras and other transgenic clones; along with the seemingly irrevocable threat to life as we know it. (Chimeras are organisms made up of cells from two or more genetically distinct sources or creatures composed of parts from multiple animals.) These technologies may fundamentally change the human species and thus pose an elemental threat to democracy, the world order, and indeed all civilization. If the arrogant scientific elite are allowed to continue their operations without debate, oversight or regulation, the survival of the human species will remain at risk.
The artwork in this show underscores these inherent dangers with a sense of playfulness, mocking those that have wantonly tampered with the genetic code of the planet, ignoring the rather obvious dangers posed by cross-species experimentation that could jeopardize the earth�s delicately-balanced biodiversity. These works are simulacra of antique scientific models and illustrations. Some of the pieces also reference the cross-hybridization of biology and solid-state technology. It is my hope that the pieces in this show will spark discussion and debate among people of what could be one of the most important, yet woefully under-acknowledged, issues of our time.
According to NASA, the concept of “unknown unknowns” represents the most dangerous and uncertain sector of a risk-assessment rubric. (The phrase was made famously obtuse by former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in a 2002 news briefing.)
The question of whether mankind can survive itself has been ubiquitous since the invention of the atom-bomb. Since then, advances in additional realms of technology have put human beings, indeed the modern age, into “uncharted territory” in terms of survivability. Toady, the synergistic relationship of chemicals, pollution, food additives, radio frequencies (just to name a few) we routinely use in our daily lives, coupled with genetic-engineering, climate-engineering, nanotechnology, and of course, “the bomb” unquestionably endanger the survivability of our species. There is a growing probability for disaster, an almost unavoidable day of reckoning, out of which creates a sense of psychological unease –in those that are aware of it.
An immutable sense of purposeless risk seems to permeate our society, that our species may unwittingly (or wittingly) create the mechanism of our own destruction.
It’s not unreasonable to estimate that meshing of all known and unknown technological risks, at the very least, will radically alter the trajectory of our species –and most likely at a rate faster than we are prepared for.
