SOFT MUTATIONS - On Alienation as Transformation
With its IRL exhibition extended until December 17, there are still a few days left to experience up close one of the most compelling drops of 2024 at the objkt one Gallery.
Soft Mutations exhibition at ArtVerse Gallery in Paris. © Sewon Hwang
The exercise of imagining possible futures in abstract and symbolic ways — something deeply human — is the focus of speculation and contemplation in Soft Mutations – On Alienation as Transformation. Curated by Diane Drubay for Blueshift Gallery, the exhibition is on view IRL at ArtVerse Paris until December 17 and can also be experienced online through the objkt.one gallery.
SOFT MUTATIONS is supported by The Giving Block: part of the sales proceeds will be donated to the Wildlife Conservation Society, connecting the exhibition’s vision of symbiosis with direct support for nature conservation. “As we face a hybrid future, we also recognize our responsibility to protect the fragile, interconnected world of natural species we care about,” notes Diane Drubay.
What if, in the future, we were no longer phenotypically as human as we recognize ourselves in the mirror today? What other horizons could we imagine? A multispecies future is foreseen by 10 international artists, brought together in a precise curatorial effort that sparks countless reflections: “It’s a celebration of transformation,” suggests Drubay.
Thinking about the future of species has never been more relevant in times of climate emergency. From Avatar to Cronenberg, utopias and dystopias unravel in our minds, in front of us, through aesthetic references, poetry, philosophies, and politics. In the arts, Soft Mutations offers empathy and connection that transcend the boundaries between living and non-living entities. At the end of the day, artists, curators, filmmakers, or just mortal beings like you and me — all of us share a curiosity about the possibilities of human evolution.
“As I contemplate them as aliens, I am also confronted with my own material weirdness.”
– Laura Tripaldi
Human and non-human identities — or their hybrid forms — are represented in each artwork, which, according to Diane Drubay, serves as “a portal into a future where human and animal selves merge and respond to the demands and possibilities of an ever-changing world and reality.”
Watching Spined Venus by Micah Alhadeff walk resolutely, albeit in solitude, makes one think of a kind of queen in complete symbiosis with flora and fauna. She is made of these elements — they are one. Known for his glitch 3D sculptures, Micah delivers a piece with a surprising level of detail, making us want to infinitely observe the character’s walk. Butterflies and hummingbirds accompany this mutant woman, and our desire, faced with such an explosion of life, is to inhabit her skin — our merely human one suddenly feels uninteresting.
MICAH ALHADEFF, Spined Venus, 2024, AR Digital Sculpture - Still.
In Narrative Underdevelopment, Scerbo tells a philosophical story about the possibilities of mutation, incorporating the technological prosthetics that seem to have become part of us, rendering us half-machine. The video art’s narrative thread leads to a conclusion that, in a certain sense, reminds us that we all carry traces of other species. From ashes to ashes: who comes first, the chicken or the egg?
SCERBO, Narrative underdevelopment, 2024, AI outputs video reassembly, 1080x1920, 58 seconds - Still.
Sam Clover’s The Evolutionary Value of Mistrust is “both a speculative exploration of what might have been and a reflection on the consequences of abrupt human actions on the natural world. It is a meditation on survival, extinction, adaptation, and the constant tension between earth’s inhabitants and the encroaching forces of change,” explains the artist. Clover used scans of feathers, plants, and rocks to bring realism to his 3D artwork.
SAM CLOVER, The Evolutionary Value of Mistrust, 2024, Digital mixed media (Zbrush, Cinema 4D, Redshift render, Substance painter, Canon Scanner K10485, Photoshop), 3500x6222
Harriet Davey proposes in Before the Looming Shadows a speculative fantasy about “who, or what, inhabited the world of Grangor before its fall.” Grangor, the planet from her game Whole Hearted, is populated by creatures like the androgynous figure featured in the piece — a prompt to explore “identity fluidity and the boundaries between the physical and virtual.”
HARRIET DAVEY, Before the Looming Shadows, 2024, 3D Render, 5774x7074
Chilean artist Felipe Sepúlveda Barrios, aka Alfacenttauri, envisions a biopunk utopia in 3D with Sol Infinito. “My brain just dropped to the core of the earth and we all exploded and died, our eyes became fossilized, and the cells turned pink. Light begins to refract on the core, and matter explodes, creating another universe,” states the artist.
ALFACENTTAURI, Sol infinito, 2024, Mixed media - Still.
In Botania, Bianca Shonee Arroyo-Kreimes imagines a future where flowers are pollinated by humans. With “futuristic and erotic allusions, biomechanical hybridization, and manipulative plants — the game of species domination is at the heart of this short video staged under the moonlight and the sound of locusts.”
BIANCA SHONEE ARROYO-KREIMES, Botania, 2024, 3D Animation, 2160 x 3840, 50 seconds - Still.
Ines Alpha’s video art Bi(Hazard)²O evokes a world with a toxic aquatic environment that forces its mutant inhabitants to use devices to breathe. “Maybe this is all we will have left in the future—a completely synthetic digital version of ourselves, trapped in a toxic environment—but at least we’ll slay,” says the artist.
INES ALPHA, Bi(Hazard)²O, 2022, Video, 1080x1920, 22 seconds - Still.
In Pluralis, a digital painting by Kira Xonorika, a post-human vision celebrates connection, resilience, and infinite growth. “Like a nymph resting on a rock in the manner of Renaissance allegories, Pluralis is at once plant, mineral, and human.”
KIRA XONORIKA, Pluralis, 2024, AI and digital painting, 1792x2304
Connie Bakshi’s Past is Prologue, a video loop with audio, unfolds in non-linear time, presenting a mystical universe where epochs and species intermingle. “In a future beyond humanity, the machine questions its own code,” reflects the artist.
CONNIE BAKSHI, past is prologue, 2024, MP4 ∞ Loop With Audio, 1080x1920, 1:00 - Still.
Finally, in Pride and Refuse of the Universe, Bas Uterwijk, aka Ganbrood, reminds us that humans are also animals: “beneath the veneer of civilization, we remain bound to nature.” Using neural networks, Ganbrood blends photography with classical and contemporary artistic styles. With a precise color palette and an utterly unconventional aesthetic, this AI piece is one we could admire endlessly.
GANBROOD, Pride and Refuse of the Universe, 2024, PNG, 2160x3840
Imagining the Future, Thinking About Now
Beyond the artworks, one of the highlights of Diane Drubay’s IRL curation at ArtVerse is the attention to detail that aligns with the mission of Blueshift Gallery, which Diane directs. “In curating this exhibition, I decided to challenge one of the unspoken rules of digital art exhibitions: never have a black screen. But what if the darkness of the screens is not an error? What if it’s not empty? It’s a pause. A rhythm. A breath. A space to reflect and connect,” she ponders.
This decision to choreograph the images displayed on digital screens was, according to the curator, not just aesthetic but ecological. If all 15 screens had been used simultaneously during the 13-day exhibition, the carbon footprint would have been immense: 1,600 kg of CO2. “This is equivalent to 17.2% of a French citizen’s annual carbon footprint, the production of 17 computer monitors, or 220 round trips by train between Paris and Berlin. That’s not the kind of future this exhibition is about,” Diane states.
What was done for the IRL exhibition:
Deactivation of the five largest screens, which consumed as much energy as the remaining 10 combined.
A 20% reduction in screen brightness and lower ambient gallery lighting, with six white lightbulbs replaced by two reusable green LED bulbs.
Limiting the number of active screens to one at a time, creating a low-energy, low-impact space.
“It’s surprising to see how long visitors stay in the room. While the entire show lasts only 12 minutes, people don’t hesitate to watch it multiple times, waiting for their favorite artwork to return and taking the opportunity to view it from different perspectives,” says Diane. This dynamic reveals a new way of experiencing a digital exhibition. “Some visitors described it as meditative, others as addictive in the best sense—a kind of flow state that’s hard to step away from,” she shares.
If you’re in Paris, there’s still time to check out the IRL exhibition and its carefully curated ambiance — an excellent weekend plan. To acquire the NFTs, visit the objkt.one gallery. The exhibition will remain online indefinitely.
Learn more about Blueshift Gallery.
Learn more about ArtVerse Gallery.
Read Diane Drubay’s curatorial text for SOFT MUTATIONS – On Alienation as Transformation.
Listen to the Space, hosted by Kika Nicolela with the artists and curator, on X.