The (Wo)man of the Future exhibition by Chris Korda at Confort Moderne

by Arnaud Chedal-Anglay

Le Confort Moderne
Until August 28, 2022

Immersion in the fascinating world of Chris Korda, transgender environmental activist. Her musical and artistic practice, the hand-painted banners during demonstrations, her work as a coder, her sculptural creations: the artist's work is the subject of a formidable retrospective, which sanctifies desire and intuition.

30 years ago, in 1992, she founded the Church Of Euthanasia. "Biographies will no longer matter when the tidal waves sweep over our cities. Answering personal questions encourages people to think the game can continue. The game ends. Almost all of us lost and even for the few winners, it was a Pyrrhic victory, in a first class cabin on a sinking ship. It is high time to tell people the truth. In the near future, it won't matter where you come from or how popular you are. What will matter is your ability to cooperate with others, because survival will require solidarity on a scale yet inconceivable. The only story that matters is the one that tells how we stopped burning so much fossil fuel and how we then became a more enlightened species."

The original hand-painted banners held at Church Of Euthanasia events will be on display among other archived video and photography produced since 1992, as well as iconic and previously unseen paintings by its co-founder, Pastor Kim. Her work as a coder will also be highlighted as an integral part of her artistic practice, as well as her musical and hypermedia pieces. "I don’t write my music in the usual way. I build kinetic sculptures, and these sculptures that generate my music are virtual. This means that they only exist as data in my software. It’s a way of working that comes to me from a relatively obscure 20th century artist named Thomas Wilfred. Like me, Wilfred was both an engineer and an artist, but he lived before the computer age, so he designed physical kinetic sculptures to generate his art. Part of what makes my art different is the collaboration with my algorithms. In other words, instead of using machines as servants, I invite them as equals to share creative space. They have abilities that I don't have, so we complement each other. They provide speed and precision, while I provide desire and intuition. What comes out is greater than the sum of the parts. I find it surprising how resistant people are to co-creating with machines. They are not simple tools or extensions of ourselves, their strengths do not necessarily overlap with ours. They can surprise us, make interesting mistakes, and reveal hidden realms, but only if we are prepared to become fluent in their language."

CONFORT MODERNE
Until August 28, 2022
185 Rue du Faubourg du Pont Neuf, 86000 Poitiers
More information here

The preceding is a translation. The original language is here.