I am interested in the body’s relationship to technology, and its potential to alter and enhance the flesh which it now documents. I examine the space between technology, intimacy, and the medical- playing with ideas of enhancements using tactile objects such as water balls and slime.
In Imprint, I highlight the duality of medical imagery: not only adding to but also interfering with our understanding of the body. My own finger and palm prints are transferred as visual DNA onto an object outside of myself but which now holds my physical data. These images show a tactile representation of my own insecurities around genetic identity. My DNA is also stored at 23 & Me genetic testing company, where in order to detect likelihood for disease I gave them access to my genetic make-up—which they subsequently sold to drug companies.
Imprint is a part of a larger work and environment “Is Your System Optimized?” which was originally exhibited at GALLLERIAPIU in Bologna. This body of work dives into our bodies and the grey ethical areas of an ever-increasing drive to enhance our human attributes and capabilities.
Our current culture promotes excellence and demands the utmost performance of our bodies and minds. Aided by accelerating advances in technology, we as humans are striving for the efficiency and perfection of machines. This self-optimization is a response to a systemic reality, which drives us to commodify ourselves. The commodification is especially present in female bodies, which act as incubators for human optimization. Yet the emergence of an enhanced human still requires a return to the body from the petri-dish. I create encompassing environments to question our drive to optimize.
Bio:
Pauline Batista ( Rio de Janeiro, 1988) is a multi-media artist based in London. The artist works across mediums, as her research-based practice extends from a background in photography further into space via sculptures, installations, film and sonic environments. She first graduated from University of Southern California with a degree in International Relations in 2010 and completed an MFA in Fine Arts at Goldsmith University in London in 2017 . She received further formal training in photography both at UCLA and under the tutelage of photographers in Los Angeles as well as in Berlin. Among her solo and group shows, she exhibited at: GALLERIAPIU, Bologna, Italy (2019) Houston Center for Photography, Houston, USA (2019), ATP Gallery London, UK (2019), CADAF- Contemporary and Digital Art Fair, Lightbox, New York, USA (2019), University of Oxford, Oxford, UK (2018), The Koppel Project, London (2018), Clinic 2- London Design Festival, London, (2017) The Hive, London (2016) Embassy of Brazil, London, UK (2016), Westwerk, Hamburg, Germany (2016). Among her residency programs: Residency Unlimited (RU), New York, USA (2019), ARTELES Residency, Haukijärvi, Finland (2019) and Alice Residency and Exhibition, The Old Waterworks, Southend-on-sea, UK (2017). This past year she was the recipient of both DAAD Grant (German Academic Exchange Service) as well as Highly Commended for the Hauser and Wirth Prize at Black Swan Arts.