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 she terms “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, she 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 she has 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.”