The figure of the body is continually redefining itself. The latest advances in robotics, prosthetics, implants and bioengineering allows us to alter ourselves in new and unprecedented ways. As we strive towards the new prosthetic bodies that merge the biological and artificial worlds, how might we choose to evolve ourselves? Can alternative materializations of the body generate alternative experiences of being? What is the future of the body? Working at the intersection of art, design, and technology, Ana Rajcevic explores these evolving questions and more through the creation of “hybrid prosthetics,” or what they term “chimeric embodiments.”
In this edition of Kein Kino, presented by Swissnex in Boston and New York and the Department of Design of Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), Ana Rajcevic introduces her work in hybrid human-embodiments, a multi-disciplinary inquiry that combines experimental art and design with research in technology, robotics, biomedicine, history, materials science, and psychology. Specifically, they will introduce us to her concept of Chimera, a creature central to her inquiry, which symbolizes a fusion of entities and practices, born from the amalgamation of machine, animal, and human, as well as the blend of artistic, scientific, and cultural endeavors they’ve engaged in.
Kein Kino is an interdisciplinary lecture series presented by the Department of Design of Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), focusing on projects at the intersection of design, arts, and technology, with the goal of examining trends critically and identifying productive collaborations between disciplines. The theme of the current edition of Kein Kino is “Design Realities – Future Technologies.”
Program
- 12:30pm – Event starts
- 1:30pm – Q&A
- 2:00pm – Event ends
iCal / Outlook
Event start time
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Brazil
1:30PM -
China
12:30AM -
India
10:00PM -
New York
12:30PM -
San Francisco
9:30AM -
Switzerland
6:30PM
Keynote
Dr. Ana Rajcevic is an artist, designer and researcher, working at the intersection of sculpture, prosthetics and technology. Her work spans across multiple platforms that include scientific research, art installations, exhibitions, performances and photo/video works. Through a multi-disciplinary inquiry, that combines experimental art and design with research in biomedicine, robotics, materials science, and psychology, Ana creates ‘hybrid prosthetics’ using most notably natural and synthetic polymers and medical biomaterials, as well as novel technologies, such as AI, robotics and biotechnologies. Ana Rajcevic’s works have been exhibited internationally in museums and institutions such as the Smithsonian Museum (USA), Boijmans Museum (NL), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (DE), Science Museum (UK), Science Week (DE) and Venice Design Biennale (IT), and are in the permanent collection of Design Museum den Bosch (NL), among others. They have received multiple awards for her work, and regularly collaborates with Science and Technology institutes. Ana holds a PhD in Artistic Research from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, and is also a visiting lecturer at UAL- the University of the Arts, London. Starting in 2024, they are joined the MIT Biomechatronic Lab at the MIT Media Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, as a Research Scientist, expanding her human augmentation research into neurologically controlled hybrid embodiments.