Tomorrow’s Heads fortsætter Stine Dejas kunstneriske udforskning af kryopræservering, som er praksissen med at nedfryse mennesker – hele kroppen eller kun hovedet – efter døden, i håbet om at fremtidens avancerede medicinske teknologier vil kunne genoplive dem. Deja har samarbejdet med forfatter Ida Marie Hede for at undersøge de mere jordnære aspekter af dette futuristiske foretagende.
Praksissen med at bevare mennesker til et fremtidigt andet liv er futuristisk og grænser til science fiction – men de potentielle praktiske forhold ved en sådan opgave, når de beskrives i en farceagtig jobbeskrivelse, er ganske brutale, håndgribelige og dystre.
Når vi udforsker kontrasten mellem videnskabeligt håb og den barske virkelighed i det arbejde, der kræves for at realisere en sådan fremtid, bliver vi inviteret til at stille spørgsmål ved, hvem der drager fordel af hvis arbejde, hvad det vil sige at være kvalificeret til et job, og hvilke satsninger der er værd at foretage i forhold til den fremtid, vi måske går i møde.
Stine Deja fortæller: "Jeg ser meget på de teknologier, der har magten til at forandre os – vores vaner, interesser, vores indre væsen, vores forventede levetid samt selve den biologi, vi deler. Disse teknologier interesserer mig, fordi de på en måde kan tegne en mulig fremtid for os, samtidig med at de udtrykker, hvem vi er lige nu. De teknologier og redskaber, vi udvikler, afslører meget om vores begær og om, hvilken slags samfund vi stræber efter. Når nye digitale teknologier sniger sig ind under huden på os, tvinger det os til at stille spørgsmål ved, hvad det egentlig vil sige at være menneske.
Jeg har arbejdet meget med kryonik, IVF, CRISPR, og for nylig har jeg undersøgt nye forsøg på et militært anlæg i Kina, hvor man tilfører tardigrade-stamceller til mennesker for at se, om det kan gøre os mere modstandsdygtige. På en eller anden måde bliver mit arbejde til én lang undersøgende fortælling, drevet af samfundets opfindelser og begær."
[ENG, original tekst]
Tomorrow’s Heads continues Stine Deja’s art exploring cryopreservation, which is the business of deep-freezing humans – the entire body or just the head – after death, with the hope that advanced future medical technologies will be able to revive them. Deja has collaborated with writer Ida Marie Hede to explore the more mundane elements of this futuristic enterprise. The practice of preserving people for a future second life is futuristic, bordering on science fiction – however, the potential practicalities of such a task, when detailed in a farcical job description, are quite brutal, hands-on, and grim. As we explore the contrast of scientific promise with the brutal reality of the work required to realize such a future, we are invited to question who benefits from whose labor, what it means to be qualified for a job, and which bets are worth making about the kind of future we might have.
Tomorrow’s Heads continues Stine Deja’s art exploring cryopreservation, which is the business of deep-freezing humans – the entire body or just the head – after death, with the hope that advanced future medical technologies will be able to revive them. Deja has collaborated with writer Ida Marie Hede to explore the more mundane elements of this futuristic enterprise. The practice of preserving people for a future second life is futuristic, bordering on science fiction – however, the potential practicalities of such a task, when detailed in a farcical job description, are quite brutal, hands-on, and grim. As we explore the contrast of scientific promise with the brutal reality of the work required to realize such a future, we are invited to question who benefits from whose labor, what it means to be qualified for a job, and which bets are worth making about the kind of future we might have.
Stine Deja on her work: "I look a lot at the technologies that have the power to change us, our habits, interests, our inner beings, our life expectancy, as well as the very biology we share. These technologies are interesting to me, as they can kind of outline a future for us, and they express who we are right now. The tech/tools we develop reveals a lot about what our desires are and what kind of society we are striving towards. With new digital technologies creeping under our skin, it forces us to question what it means to be human?
I've looked a lot at Cryonics, IVF, CRISPR and recently I've been looking into these new tests in a military site in China, where they infuse tardigrade stem cells into humans, to see if it will make us more resilient beings. Somehow my work becomes one long investigative narrative, driven by society's inventions and desires. "
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