Hands on / Hands Off - exhibition at Gallery VI PER
The exhibition Hands On / Hands Off (loosely translated as The Rise and Fall of the Hand) is a brief probe into our constantly evolving relationship with our own hands. Human limbs have not only been key to defining what it means to be human, but they have also become a driving force of material culture over the last millennium. In robotics, replicating the human hand represents the furthest boundary of what is possible, as its complexity and agility often pose a formidable challenge for the efforts of engineers and scientists.
The exhibition project is made up of a collage of visual representations that focus our attention on the countless manifestations, tasks, and functions of the human hand. Alongside these images, a fairy tale narrative about its rise, fall, and resurrection in the age of mechanization and artificial intelligence is presented.
Ultimately, the exhibition questions both the legacy of the hand in the realm of artistic creation and design, and its future in a world of anonymity. As we gradually move towards a fully automated future, one indomitable and simultaneously true statement remains: the hand remains a mystery to us. And perhaps this very limb is the last thing that makes us human.
Merve Bedir is an architect. In her work, she deals with the infrastructures of hospitality and mobility, while her second area of interest explores post-human relationships in the context of ecology and cybernetics. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Delft University of Technology and is currently engaged in postdoctoral research at the Critical Media Lab in Basel.
Brendan Cormier is the Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V & A) East in London, UK. At the V & A, he has curated several significant gallery projects and exhibitions, including Values of Design at Design Society in Shenzhen, China (2017), A World of Fragile Parts at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2016, and Cars: Accelerating the Modern World at V & A South Kensington (2019). Prior to his work at the museum, he was the executive editor of the journal Volume.
The exhibition project is made up of a collage of visual representations that focus our attention on the countless manifestations, tasks, and functions of the human hand. Alongside these images, a fairy tale narrative about its rise, fall, and resurrection in the age of mechanization and artificial intelligence is presented.
Ultimately, the exhibition questions both the legacy of the hand in the realm of artistic creation and design, and its future in a world of anonymity. As we gradually move towards a fully automated future, one indomitable and simultaneously true statement remains: the hand remains a mystery to us. And perhaps this very limb is the last thing that makes us human.
Merve Bedir is an architect. In her work, she deals with the infrastructures of hospitality and mobility, while her second area of interest explores post-human relationships in the context of ecology and cybernetics. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Delft University of Technology and is currently engaged in postdoctoral research at the Critical Media Lab in Basel.
Brendan Cormier is the Senior Curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum (V & A) East in London, UK. At the V & A, he has curated several significant gallery projects and exhibitions, including Values of Design at Design Society in Shenzhen, China (2017), A World of Fragile Parts at the Venice Biennale of Architecture in 2016, and Cars: Accelerating the Modern World at V & A South Kensington (2019). Prior to his work at the museum, he was the executive editor of the journal Volume.
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