Lucy McRae’s exhibition FUTUREKIN is set in a post CRISPR world, where kids are brought to term and grown in complex, sensitive wombs in a lab. The speculation anticipates ‘future-kids’ develop unfamiliar, neurobiological quirks, through lack of touch and fetal programming that takes place in the womb. By virtue of women being separated from pregnancy, science and biotech take on the roles of invitro maternal and paternal surrogates. This far-future what if, replaces abortion and a plethora of other incomprehensible questions, with enormous, ethical unknowns.

Pointing to a future where childbirth is questioned, McRae considers the new products and methods of care that are traded and handed down, for an advanced reproductive landscape. Three machines are seen within a sort-of sports court scenario, suggesting their recreational use and how they might become integrated into the day-to-day life of these new beings. Heavy duty Love, Compression Carpet and Compression Cradle are mental health machines designed to compensate for a lack of human touch in early life. Sandwiching the body between layers of thick squishy stuff, these sponge-like machines build trust and connection, re-enforcing the protective embrace of a parent, gone lost, by virtue of lab grown origins. Fueling important dialogue on the complex realities of human connection and future intimacy, Lucy finds opportunities to highlight the evolution of care and nurture in a post CRISPR techno world –– forging new types of future, through science and story.

A science fiction artist and body architect, Lucy has a finely tuned ability to imagine other ways of being and, crucially, other possibilities for the human body, which sees her speculate on how it could evolve. She considers how human biology might be augmented by a mixture of physical design, modification of genes and emotions –– technology transforming the body and ethics. Her prophetic aesthetic is flung far from archetypal tropes, boldly staring down the status quo – creating nostalgia for a future about to happen.

Crew Credits:

Production:
Creator and Executive Producer - Hernán Díaz Alonso
Producers - Marcelyn Gow/Reza Monahan
Director - Reza Monahan
Director of Photography - John Keifer
B Camera - Basile Journet
C Camera - Andrew Hoffman
Production Assistants - Erika Hannon/Chunren Shih
Sound Engineer - Chris Trueman

Post-Production:
Story Producer - Marcelyn Gow
Editors - Claudia Fucigna/Reza Monahan
Colorist - Sarah London

Additional Images and Video Provided by Lucy McRae

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