Hayden Fowler’s video work new world order is being featured in HyperPrometheus – The Legacy of Frankenstein, a new exhibition at Perth Institute of Contemporary Art (PICA) Central Galleries.
Curated by Oron Catts, Laetitia Wilson and Eugenio Viola, the exhibition commemorates the 200th anniversary of the publishing of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus (1818).
Considered by some to be the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein is both a celebration and warning of the seductive powers and unforeseen outcomes of scientific advancement. It uncannily predicted a world in which humans are able to overcome our limitations through human/non-human hybridity, reproductive and genetic manipulation.
Featuring Australian and international artists, HyperPrometheus re-contextualises Frankenstein for the new millennium within the realms of contemporary and biological arts. Monsters and monstrous creatures abound, in works that test our understanding of what it is to be human, living, natural, functional, valid or valued.
This dovetails with Hayden’s own practice, which is motivated by the global human-nature crisis, widely acknowledged to be at a point of no return. He is particularly concerned with the effect of lost natures on the human psyche, culture, and qualitative experience, and his ideas relate the destruction of the environment to the degradation of culture and denaturing of humanity. His work and research explore the historical influences leading to this moment, as well as the varied projections of possible future outcomes.
Hayden’s work will be displayed alongside fellow artists AES+F, Tarsh Bates, Erich Berger and Mari Keto, Erin Coates, Thomas Feuerstein, Hayden Fowler, Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg, Heather Dewey Hagborg and Chelsea E. Manning, Sam Jinks, Olga Kisseleva, Daniel Lee, Kira O’Reilly, ORLAN, Nina Sellars, Justin Shoulder, Stelarc and Lu Yang.
HyperPrometheus will open on Friday 19 October from 6:30-8:30pm, and will be on display at PICA Central Galleries, Perth until December 23, 2018.
