Provocative Futures II: Speculation, Medical Science, Human Body and Gender

Free the Male Nipple
2021
GONG Paul, KU Kuang-Yi

The “Free the Nipple” movement that began in the West in 2013 aims to overcome the gender inequality between men and women. This social movement focuses on the double standards of male and female nipple exposure in today’s society, laws, and online media. Free the Male Nipple builds on this movement as the background, and attempts to propose a future male circumcision as a radical practice of feminism. In this future scenario, a group of male radical feminists expresses their respect for the female body through the practice of cutting off the nipples that have no physiological function. Through the extreme imagination of surgery, Free the Male Nipple portrays a series of sensory experiences that lead the viewers to reflect on medical technology, gender, and physical relationships we may face in contemporary society.
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ChoosingRunn
2021
Film, PLA 3Dprint

WU Pin-Yu, NIEN Tino

Narcolepsy is an illness which the artist suffers from.
Cataplexy is a typical symptom of narcolepsy. It is a state of momentary loss of muscle control. Through research carried out by evolutionists, the cataplexy state is quite similar to the mechanism of “playing dead (tonic immobility)” certain animals present when in danger.

Patients suffering from narcolepsy often experience high levels of stress throughout their daily lives. Even though the disease has been thoroughly researched and recognized as pathological, patients are still often stereotyped as lazy and avoidance. But this behavior of stereotyping others may stem from one’s own desire for laziness and avoidance. In this work, the tonic immobility state caused by the above-mentioned cataplexy is designed as an optional choice, the product can induce a state of tonic immobility through its use, so as to achieve the function of regulating life pressure, and promote more options and thoughts on illness and social perspective.
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Enemy Me

2021
Film, Animation, AR, Comics

Four Zhui 4J (CHUANG Shih-Chieh)

The year is 2068 in the future, mankind encounters an ecological catastrophe caused by cell mutation in outer space. Viewers are led into this future timeline step by step through the video on display, interactive installations, and comic documents, where they will eventually find out what kind of story has taken place.

The idea of the work is developed from the artist’s personal medical history. The mutated cells in the work take inspiration from skin lesions as its original prototype. While the inclusion of science fiction elements provides viewers with emotional connection. The artist integrates this future with his skills in comic illustrations to construct the narrative, allowing viewers to enter the world created by the artist after watching the video.
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Monalisa’s Eye

2021
Acrylic, Graphic printing, Single channel video

CHU Li-Ying

In this game, the core objective is to find the disappeared painting- Mona Lisa’s Eye. Through different levels of puzzle solving, questions are raised and the answers are found, and viewers can gradually piece together the background story.
“What is it that people pursue? Is there any glimmer of hope signaling the current helpless situation may be reversed? Or the inequality in resources allocation among social classes and the contradiction caused by it?”
The idea of the Abarara Eye Disease in the game is taken from the illness “Acanthamoeba Keratitis”. The artist depicts within the narrative of the game, her personal experience of the symptoms, treatment pains, depressions, and questions toward society during the illness. Allowing the viewers to keep reflecting through the process of putting together story fragments to discover their own ending.
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Extreme Jungle

2021
Single channel video, Graphic printing, Insect specimen and plant
HONG Chingting

The alienation of people and the natural environment are an undeniable trend and fact. This situation will undoubtedly become more and more serious in the future. Despite the advancement in medical treatment, the physical and psychological conditions of human beings continue to deteriorate.
Therefore, Extreme Jungles were created. Those artificial jungles are made to be extremely wild, so that people can make up for the alienation from nature in a short time. And what does one get from it? Is it physical and mental health, or just fear? Is it really close to nature, or hypocritic and alienated?
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Emorgan

2021
3D printed organs, Official website, 3D animation, Package design

WU Ｗenchien、HUANG Xile

In the future, as material life becomes more satisfying, we modify parts of the human body. In addition to the external material, the internal organs and performance of the human body can be enhanced through surgery to derive “organ autonomy”. People begin to develop the spiritual aspect.
Humans express and receive emotions differently. Some people are unable to understand why emotions are formed, while others are unable to express their emotions smoothly.
You can think of Emorgan as a future emotion service company, providing couples counseling services and emotion organs. The future emotion organ contains two sets of organs, Obi and Shali, and a set of prosthetics, Buzzy. Obi translates the partner’s voice to give emotional vibration feedback, while the Shali translates the tear crystal body shapes with protein analysis to emotional saliva, and Buzzy is an entry-level product that provides the most basic emotional feedback by giving the partner electric feedback through the difference in blood flow rate.
Question: In the world of the future, apart from physical and functional needs, can we also use technology to satisfy human’s spirituals, emotions and intimate relationships, or have a new way of knowing each other?
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DareDiary

2020
Cardboard, Plank, Stereolithography Apparatus (SLA), Resin, Acrylic

HSU Circle, CHANG Banff, MA David

We hope that we can utilize the benefit of breast milk, together with the latest technology to let physiological men also produce “human milk”. The production of human milk is also suitable for teenagers during the growing period. With human milk, teenagers can improve their immune system, and reduce the probability of allergies. In this way, we can achieve the goal of gender equality and improve our quality of life at the same time.