Meta.Morf 2018 – A Beautiful Accident
FLORIS KAAYK (NL) – Trondheim Art museum – Gråmølna, March 8 – May 6, 2018
Artist’s presentation @ Dokkhuset, March 9 – 10 @ 10:00 – 17:00. See full program here.
THE ORDER ELECTRUS / THE ORIGIN OF CREATURES / THE MODULAR BODY
The Order Electrus
(Video, 2005)
The Order Electrus states that nature adapts, even to human actions that seem to destroy everything. The amazing power of evolution has given birth to a new species of insect. Their ideal habitats are old industrial locations. Some call them electrical insects, others simply speak of a miraculous phenomenon, or even better, a self-supporting order; the Order Electrus.
The Origin of Creatures
(Video, 2010)
The Origin of Creatures is an animation inspired by the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and is set in an imaginary future where the world is hit by a catastrophe. Among the remains of a devastated city lives that what is left of humanity. Human bodies are divided into separated parts of the body and are fused to special beings. Together, these creatures form a colony. In the rubble of destroyed buildings they are trying to build a nest as large and as high as possible, so that their queen gets enough sunlight to reproduce.
The Modular Body
(Video, 2016)
The Modular Body is a Sci-Fi story about the creation of Oscar, a living organism build from human cells. The work consists of several screens, on each screen part of the story of the creation of Oscar as an Artificial Life form is revealed or discussed. Oscar is the size of a human hand consisting of organ modules grown from human cells.
The Modular Body shows the ethical, esthetic and scientific endeavors and dangerous of creating artificial life forms.
The Modular Body takes an open approach towards the creation of artificial life by putting all aspects of this development on the table. Taking evolution into our own hands is a central question since it confronts us with ethical questions as well the limits of our knowledge about Life and living systems in general. Nevertheless, we see the medical benefits of this developments but do we also see the social, cultural and political implications of designing life as a commodity. Modular Bodies is just one step away from designing a hybrid human-machine species, or autonomous machines.
Floris Kaayk (born in 1982) is a Dutch digital artist. He grew up in Tiel as the son of artist couple Coen en Guusje Kaayk. Kaayk graduated cum laude from the animation department of AKV St.Joost School of Fine Art and Design in Breda, and gained a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam. His work focused on futuristic concepts and fantasies, and visualises technological progress, sometimes by demonstrating its advantages and at other times by presenting the negative consequences.
In 2014, Kaayk won the Volkskrant Visual Arts Prize for his animated films and semi-documentaries. His shortvideo The Origin of Creatures won over 10 awards on filmfestivals all over the globe. In 2016, his video for the song Witch Doctor by Dutch alternative rock band De Staat received numerous prizes, including a UK Music Video Award, an Edison Pop Award, and a European Music Video Award. In2016, The Modular Body won a Golden Calf Award at the Netherlands Film Festival. Recently Kaayk received the Witteveen+Bos Art+Technololgy award for his complete oeuvre.