HUMAN+: The Future of Our Species

Museum hopping in Singapore has become a weekend filler activity for me. It’s both intellectually-stimulating and soul-inspiring for me to revisit the past – examining old relics to understand the history of our mankind through the events and innovations. Museums today often present us with the artefacts of the past, and not very often on the future of the world or our own mankind. And I probably wouldn’t have known about the existence of cyborgs and superhumans in this real world if not for HUMAN+, the latest exhibit at ArtScience Museum.

I’ve always been fascinated by the exhibits at ArtScience Museum. Both disciplines, Art and Science, always seem like they are a world apart, but our very own ArtScience Museum in Singapore has cleverly blurred out the lines of this two contrasting subjects, bringing about this beautiful and spectacular marriage between the arts and sciences. The ArtScience museum’s exhibits have always been intriguing and mind-blowing. The HUMAN+ exhibit is another hit for me.

This exhibit is a collaboration between ArtScience Museum, Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, and The Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB). It’s a cutting-edge exhibition that asks what it means to be a human in a world of artificial intelligence, life-like robots and advance genetic modifications. It probes the social, ethical and environmental issues of humans using technology to modify ourselves. I only thought these ideas were toyed with in Sci-fi movies but some persisting individuals out there have been actualizing some of these wild ideas. What happens if we can play god and manipulate our own genomes?

Showcasing the work of 40 international artists, scientists, technologists and designers, the exhibit explores possible future paths for our species. It includes major names from the fields of robotics, biotechnology, synthetic biology and artificial intelligence, including the world’s first living cyborg, Neil Harbisson; Australia’s leading performance artist, Stelarc; and Oron Catts and Ionat Zurr, who grow sculptures from living tissue.

Do be aware that there are some disturbing images and videos showcased during the exhibits and children might be confounded by the grotesque or eccentric ideas set forth by the artists and scientists. It’s educational but it’s best for the kids to be accompanied by an adult for this exhibit.

Can we actually dwell in the virtual world? With this suit, you may.

TEASE me and watch how I react.

Could robots take over mankind?

This is not an exhibit of a sci-fi film. Artificial intelligence is not too far away from us today.

We are already living in an automated world where there are robots, cyborgs and superhumans. It’s almost like we are living in MARVEL world where the comics spill out some truth of our future.

What’s your encounter like with robots? No, they are not aliens.

Soon, we’ll have robots living at home with us.

What if we ran out of food supply one day? How do we start to forage out own food to ensure the continuity of our own species?

What if parents are able to predetermine the genes of their own child?

The tissue dolls.

Meet Nadine. Our very own locally-produced life-like robot. Nadine is created by Nadia Magnenat Thalmann, Director of Institute for Media Innovation (IMI) at Nanyang Technological University. This socially intelligent robot has got a great sense of humour.

I love the interactive installations in this exhibit. This is definitely one of those exhibits which you wouldn’t want to miss. The highlight would definitely be my up and close personal interaction with Nadine.

Human+: The Future of Our Species will run in the ArtScience Museum from 20 May to 15 October 2017. Tickets are available at all Marina Bay Sands box offices and website. Terms and Conditions apply.

Ticket Prices

Adult:

$17 (standard)

, $13.60 (Singapore resident)
Senior (65 years and above)/ Student/Child (2-12 years): $12(standard), $9.60 (Singapore resident)
Family package (2 kids and 2 adults) : $46(standard), $36.80(Singapore resident)For more information on the exhibition, visit www.marinabaysands.com/ArtScienceMuseum.

HUMAN+: The Future of Our Species

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