Stepping into the future
Man versus machine, a symbiosis that’s complex yet captivating. How will the human race be defined decades on, wonders Sulyn Chong
“GIRL, the phone is updating itself again!” my mum complains for the umpteenth time, before continuing to vent about the way phones are made today. “Why can’t phones be simple like they used to be? Too many buttons, too many functions, don’t know for what.” Her gripe on technology is a constant one in our household. But of course, that’s probably natural considering mum is a generation older.
Meanwhile, I have better luck with reining in technology. But even I have to admit that some of the inventions we’re seeing today can be pretty scary.
Advances in science and technology have always been double-edged.
Although it has paved the way for many breakthroughs, it’s also not without its drawbacks. However, it can’t be denied that the symbiosis between human and technology, although complex, is truly fascinating.
My recent visit to the HUMAN+ Exhibition at the ArtScience Museum in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, certainly opened my eyes to the potentials and possibilities.
Perhaps, we’re heading much closer to that imagined state of self-driven vehicles and humanoid companions faster than we had thought possible.
This cutting-edge exhibition showcases thought-provoking creations from more than 40 international artists, technologists and designers.
Each exhibit at the four themed exhibition halls — Augmented Abilities, Encountering Others, Authoring Environments, and Life At The Edges — has been created in such a way as to make us question what it means to be human now and how it may feel like to be human in 100 years’ time.
With each step into the realms of virtual reality suits, faceless eyeballs, extended limbs, and modified body parts, visitors are pushed to examine their lifestyle, cultural and sociological beliefs. Will our future be the utopian dream we hope for, or a dystopian misery we fear?
COLLABORATIVE EFFORT
“It’s apparent that robotics plays an incredible role in assistive technology, but it’s still early to say where it’ll lead. This is a safe space for you to question how advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and biotechnology can be incorporated into our daily lives in the future and begin to imagine the transformation of our world. After all, the future has yet to be defined,” begins Honor Harger, the executive director of ArtScience Museum, who’s also my guide for the exhibition.
The crowd’s just beginning to build up as Harger ushers me into the lift to head to where the exhibition hall is located.
Andrea Bandelli, the CEO of Science Gallery International, greets us as we approach the entrance.
“Some exhibits maybe a bit uncomfortable, but that’s the whole point,” warns Bandelli.
The HUMAN+ exhibition was first showcased at the Science Gallery in Trinity College Dublin in 2011 and subsequently, at The Centre de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona (CCCB) in 2015.
Both exhibitions had invited much controversy as well as contemplation from the public and media.
The director of the Science Gallery, Michael John Gorman, described it as “a combination of a sweet shop and a pharmacy, and Alicein-Wonderland world of pills, promises and prosthetics”.
With the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin and CCCB collaborating for this exhibition in Singapore, many of the works exhibited back in 2011 and 2015 can be found here.
A lot of these have seen marked developments or improvements, such as Stelarc’s radical performances of him against machines.
This seminal performance artist from Australia has redefined the boundaries of human capabilities and questions the authorship of robotics and technology: Who controls who?
His video, featuring him being strapped to an industrial robot and then manipulated against his will, greets visitors in a darkened room as you enter the hallways.
The only sound that can be heard is the machine’s robotic squeaks and the dripping of Stelarc’s sweat as he’s catapulted, stretched and twisted. Captivating but terrifying to witness as he tries hard to fight against his body’s will.
CHALLENGING THE NORM
Human enhancements don’t necessarily entail having extra limbs or adorning a space suit that changes your visual perception. That said, there are some artists and designers