MUTANTS AND MUTATION
Representations of mutants often depict organisms with behavior or appearance dramatically different from, yet structurally related to, ordinary humans. Whether a hidden superpower or a body of conspicuously aberrant shape, the confrontation of a mutant's difference by these (ostensibly) ordinary humans forces us to reconsider the nature of nature itself. We will begin by analyzing a set of three films by David Cronenberg that exemplify the diversity and complexity of these representations, even within one artist's oeuvre. In the following weeks we will examine works of art, architecture, and literature that, like the Cronenberg films, do not just show mutants, but somehow embody them through the use of genetic algorithms, actual biotechnology, or the old-fashioned distortion of familiar cultural codes.
Yak M. Yu's mutant architecture
Sophie Grant (above). Jake Shpall (below).
