Grumman Greenhouse

Hunter and Dog

Frederik De Wilde

FILE SÃO PAULO 2025: SYNTHETIKA – Art and Technology – Installations
Electronic Language International Festival

Hunter and Dog – Belgium

Genetic and evolutionary algorithms reinterpret an existing artwork. De Wilde uses digital scans and custom genetic and evolutionary algorithms as a deconstruction technique to reinterpret and update the nineteenth-century work Hunter and Dog from sculptor John Gibson R. A. (1790–1866).

Frederik De Wilde’s Hunter and Dog interrogates the intersections of human evolution, genetic engineering, and the hybridization of technology and biology. De Wilde reinterprets the historical sculpture through the lens of post-evolutionary theory, engaging with contemporary debates on CRISPR, synthetic biology, and the implications of human-directed genetic modification. CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing technology, has introduced an unprecedented rupture in the trajectory of evolution. No longer constrained by the slow mechanisms of natural selection, humans now possess the ability to intervene directly in their own genetic blueprint, marking a shift toward a post-Darwinian paradigm. This technological power, however, is not neutral; it emerges from a historical lineage of scientific inquiry deeply entangled with colonialism. The history of genetic manipulation is inseparable from colonial bioprospecting, eugenics, and exploitative medical experimentation on marginalized populations. Colonial regimes treated bodies—both human and non-human—as sites of intervention, control, and optimization, a logic that persists in contemporary biotechnological frameworks. Post-colonial discourse reveals how genetic engineering risks perpetuating these legacies, reinforcing power asymmetries between those who wield biotechnological control and those subjected to its consequences. CRISPR, while offering the promise of eradicating disease and expanding human potential, also raises ethical concerns about genetic stratification, bio-capitalism, and the commodification of life itself. De Wilde’s work visualizes these tensions, making visible the processes of cell division and morphogenesis—the very biological mechanisms now subject to human intervention. Hunter and Dog does not merely depict the transformation of a neoclassical form but speculates on the future of the human body as a site of engineered evolution. From a decolonial perspective, the artwork questions who has the authority to edit life and to what ends. It challenges the techno-utopian narratives that frame genetic modification as an inevitable progress while obscuring its social, ethical, and ecological implications. By hybridizing art, science, and technology, Hunter and Dog compels us to confront the uncertainties of a CRISPR-driven future: Will genetic editing reinforce existing inequalities, or can it be decolonized and democratized? How do we navigate this post-natural frontier without losing the human—and more-than-human—dimensions of our existence? De Wilde’s work invites us into this speculative space, where the hunter, the dog, and the algorithm coalesce into a vision of a world where biology is no longer destiny, but a site of contested agency.

Where are we going from here? 

BIO

Frederik De Wilde fuses art, science, and tech. Known for his Blackest-Black works that inspired Kapoor’s Vantablack, he has shown at Venice Biennale, BOZAR, MAAT, Pompidou, and ZKM, winning awards like Ars Electronica.

Bleu Remix
In his spectacle-installation Bleu Remix, Yann Marussich returns to a theme originally explored in Bleu Provisoire (2001), a spectacle in which a mysterious blue liquid oozes through the layers of his skin as though it were the final effect or by-product of his body’s inner processes. In Bleu Remix, the artist once more invites the viewer to experience an intimate journey through the corners of his body. Each time the spectacle is performed, a different (local) musician accompanies Marussich. This unique, singular confrontation establishes a new relationship between the sound and image. The meeting of the two artists brings an element of risk and uniqueness to the event, as if the music explores the spectacle repeatedly, resulting in new ways of perception.

Cunningham Clip -Summerspace
CUNNINGHAM is a 3D cinematic experience about the legendary American choreographer, Merce Cunningham, orchestrated through his iconic works and performed by the last generation of his dancers. This poetic film traces Merce’s artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery (1944–1972), from his early years as a struggling dancer in postwar New York to his emergence as one of the most visionary and influential choreographers worldwide. 3D technology weaves together Merce’s philosophies and stories, creating a visceral journey through the choreographer’s world.

The way we were
Not only does Arcangelo Sassolino transform failure into art, but he manages to make the art of failing a profound part of the art of living. He goes even further in the awareness of risk. He is aware that his experiments may not hold up to the forces that he himself puts in place but this possible collateral damage wants to represent an additional value, becoming precisely the existential metaphor of the concepts of risk and failure. His installations explore the behavior and mechanical limits of matter, he forces their characteristics to distort their shape, gravity, pressure, friction, statics, and of each possibility Sassolino contemplates the risks of collapse with its precise timing and programming.

*(asterisk)
“*(asterisk) is an installation comprised of an armillary sphere apparatus rotating an apple in 360 degrees and four cameras omnidirectionally scanning the surface of the apple in real-time. Computers calculate the similarity between fragmentary images of the present apple and apples I’ve eaten before, as if they were my memory of apples. The computations and compared apple-fragment images are shown on four displays respectively.” Noriyuki Suzuki

AI Facial Profiling, Levels of Paranoia

Lamberto Teotino ir dzimis Romā, un 2002. gadā absolvēja Venēcijas Mākslas akadēmiju. Viņš ir specializējies vizuālajā mākslā un viņa darbi pārsvarā balstās uz attēlu pētīšanu. Pēta valodas attīstību padziļināšanos, lai to pielāgotu jauniem tehniskajiem instrumentiem. Pēc Teotino uzskatiem, objekta pētīšana piedāvā konceptuālu iznākumu, kura vienā pusē atrodas vēsturiskās un psiholoģiskās īpatnības, bet otrā pusē – zinātne. Tāpat pēta arī cilvēku sociālos un paranormālos aspektus.

SECOND SEX WAR på Trondheim kunstmuseum er Sidsel Meineche Hansens første soloutstilling i Norge. Tittlen refererer både til den franske filosofen og forfatteren Simone de Beauvoirs bok Det annet kjønn (The Second Sex), og til de såkalte ‘sex wars’ – en debatt om pornografi som sjanger og industri, som splittet feministbevegelsen i henholdsvis anti-pornografi- og anti-sensur-grupper tidlig på 1980-tallet. Langs denne historiske linje vil SECOND SEX WAR utforske en ny cyber-feministisk posisjon rettet mot patriarkatet og den hvite dominansen som ligger til grunn for (re)produksjonen av det binære kjønnssystemet i virtual reality (VR).

Kaash
Inspired by Akram Khan’s early training in the Indian classical dance form Kathak, and the hybrid language that organically emerged when Akram’s kathak training encountered contemporary dance in his teens, a vision began to form, fuelled by a desire to learn and create through collaboration with the very best people across all the disciplines in the arts.

The rules were simple: take risks, think big and daring, explore the unfamiliar, avoid compromise and tell stories through dance that are compelling and relevant, with artistic integrity.
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Charlotte Gyllenhammar har konsekvent och med stor integritet etablerat sig som en av Sveriges främsta konstnärer. Sårbarhet och makt, identitet och perspektivförskjutningar är några teman som följt henne genom åren. I flera av hennes verk möter vi det utsatta och upproriska barnet, i förhållande till en hotfull omvärld.

L’ultimo Dio
Lamberto Teotino ir dzimis Romā, un 2002. gadā absolvēja Venēcijas Mākslas akadēmiju. Viņš ir specializējies vizuālajā mākslā un viņa darbi pārsvarā balstās uz attēlu pētīšanu. Pēta valodas attīstību padziļināšanos, lai to pielāgotu jauniem tehniskajiem instrumentiem. Pēc Teotino uzskatiem, objekta pētīšana piedāvā konceptuālu iznākumu, kura vienā pusē atrodas vēsturiskās un psiholoģiskās īpatnības, bet otrā pusē – zinātne.

تاكاهيرو ماتسو
松尾高弘
타카히로 마츠오
Такахиро Мацуо
Noctiluca
Swimming in a glowing, underwater sea of jellyfish would be a really beautiful experience. But, with limited access to the deep sea, this interactive installation by artist Takahiro Matsuo could be considered a backup to that kind of actual encounter. The dark blue room, a reminder of the oceanic abyss, is a seamlessly flowing design in which viewers can appreciate the beauty of these fascinating creatures without having to actually run the risk of a jellyfish sting.

РЕЙНАЛЬД ДРУХИН
LANDSCAPE MONOLITH

MONOLITH is the title of French multimedia artist Reynald Drouhin’s latest art project which consists of a series of digitally manipulated images of stunning natural landscapes. In the middle of picturesque sunsets and serene Arctic landscapes, Drouhin pastes a mysterious prismatic shape and then flips it, thus creating a mind-boggling visual effect of an otherworldly transparent object hovering in desolate locations. The entire project is an ingenious appropriation of the famous monolith from Stanley Kubrick’s film ”2001: A Space Odyssey” where mysterious dark rectangular objects (dubbed as monoliths) were scattered across the solar system by an unknown alien civilisation which seemed to guide humans along a risky interplanetary journey. Reynald Drouhin’s MONOLITH series captures exactly the double nature of Kubrick’s monoliths: the inverted shapes in the photographs seem to be a window to another dimension, a physical anomaly which distorts the nature around it, and is both menacing and inviting.

I was a flight risk