Ram Shergill
Bioregenerative Bodies
Posthuman Body Building
8 - 28 October 2023
Opening event: Sunday 8 October 2 - 4 pm
Bioregenerative Bodies
Posthuman Body Building
8 - 28 October 2023
Opening event: Sunday 8 October 2 - 4 pm
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Part II of Ram Shergill’s project for MOCA London (Part I, April 2022). The work is a continued exploration into the body, the environments we exist in, and our shifting into new relations with other living forms. Shergill’s new works further elaborates ideas and concepts of “critical posthuman bodying” and bioregenerative systems. Through photography and sculpture, he pushes materiality by fusing living matter with his photos and sculptures developing the notion of “intra-relationships” between human and nonhuman forms.
“In the future the human body can be furthered by layering the anatomy with a series of bioregenerative encasements. Bioregenerative systems are systems that are made up of artificial ecosystems incorporating complex and symbiotic relationships between microorganisms, animals, and higher plants. The future human (posthuman) body is extended through a novel type of “body building” working with multispecies entities. Working and layering the body with various species in speculative architectures allows for mutually beneficial gaseous exchange between the human and nonhuman, enabling possible adaptations of the body to harsher and alien environments. This exhibition explores the embodying of living systems through visions of a critical posthuman practice using artistic interpretations. Engaging with the ontological, technological, and aesthetic manifestations of the body combined with the biological and physiological anatomy realises a hybridised sympoietic type of posthuman body building. Human and nonhuman bodies are furthered in unison using adaptation, growth andrefiguration achieving unique transformative possibilities through Bioregenerative Bodies.“ Ram Shergill. The two exhibitions at MOCA London are a result of Ram Shergill’s doctoral research at University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture and based on his thesis “Visions of a Critical Posthuman Practice: Embodying Exoskeletal LivingSystems (ELS)”. Working closely with biochemical engineering, architectural design and bioregenerative methods, Shergill’s work hypothesizes modes of“becoming other together” through sympoiesis (making-with in collectively producing systems). Shergill’s work analyses the human body through a performative and aesthetic façade, depicting a visual “Growth of Form.” The exhibition sets forth a critical discussion of our existence in a quickly changing environment. It questions the intra-relationship between human, animal, and botanic organisms, and the possibilities of a new form of human bodies. For the exhibition an accompanied catalogue of the part I and part II will be available during the exhibition period. www.ramshergill.org @ramshergill |
Biography:
Ram Shergill is completing his doctoral research at University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture, under the supervision of Marcos Cruz, Professor of innovative environments, and Dr. Brenda Parker, Associate Professor in sustainable bioprocess design at UCL Biochemical Engineering.
Ram Shergill is an interdisciplinary researcher and artist specialising in bio-integrated design, photography, and creative direction. Internationally recognised for his contribution to the creative arts, Shergill has advanced his practice through science, wearable technology and expanded photography. Working in the field of bioastronautics, Shergill is designing novel photobioreactor extensions to the body via biochemical engineering and architectural design.
Shergill is a Senior Lecturer at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in the Business School for the Creative Industries (BSCI) and has previously lectured at UAL and Arts University Bournemouth. In addition to lecturing, he has been a keynote speaker at various conferences and galleries internationally.
Shergill was awarded the Arts Culture and Theatre Award (ACTA) in 2016 for his contribution to the arts. His work has been presented in exhibitions internationally, including Sotheby’s, The Wallace Collection, Somerset House, and the Whitechapel Gallery. Shergill’s portraits are housed in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.
Ram Shergill is completing his doctoral research at University College London, The Bartlett School of Architecture, under the supervision of Marcos Cruz, Professor of innovative environments, and Dr. Brenda Parker, Associate Professor in sustainable bioprocess design at UCL Biochemical Engineering.
Ram Shergill is an interdisciplinary researcher and artist specialising in bio-integrated design, photography, and creative direction. Internationally recognised for his contribution to the creative arts, Shergill has advanced his practice through science, wearable technology and expanded photography. Working in the field of bioastronautics, Shergill is designing novel photobioreactor extensions to the body via biochemical engineering and architectural design.
Shergill is a Senior Lecturer at the University for the Creative Arts (UCA) in the Business School for the Creative Industries (BSCI) and has previously lectured at UAL and Arts University Bournemouth. In addition to lecturing, he has been a keynote speaker at various conferences and galleries internationally.
Shergill was awarded the Arts Culture and Theatre Award (ACTA) in 2016 for his contribution to the arts. His work has been presented in exhibitions internationally, including Sotheby’s, The Wallace Collection, Somerset House, and the Whitechapel Gallery. Shergill’s portraits are housed in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery.