New Romance at the MCA

By Ben Stephens.

You know those science fiction plots where the story is set sometime in the near future, it seems kind of normal and relatable because the character just woke up in bed with linen sheets. You feel like you understand the situation, only then is it that character begins reading holographic screens that are produced from their eyes while talking to an AI computer that informs them of the weather and this is where you begin to wonder how far we are away from this world. Scarily, you remind yourself that earlier this morning you woke up and reached for your phone sized computer and asked Siri if it was going to rain today, to which she responds with ‘Yes, I think we’ll see some rain today’ in a tone like she is going to experience the weather as well.

Is the future is here? And we are not too far off those sci-fi movies and hologram producing eye balls. Breathe.

In a bid to the stretch the post-human mind, Anna Davis (MCA) and Houngcheol Choi, National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea (MMCA) have teamed up to bring an exhibition to the city – New Romance: art and the posthuman. Showcasing 18 artists, both Korean and Australian, the exhibition digs at the question of what is it to be human today and what will come in the ever-moving future.

A mash up of contemporary art and future concepts equals an exciting and rather funny look at social issues today and how they could shape how we are as human in years to come. With human modifications, hybrids, and the consequences of hyper-consumerism, New Romance could be that timely reminder to the human race that the robots are in fact coming…

The exhibition is taking over level one of the Museum of Contemporary Art and is completely free, closing on September 4, 2016.