The Modular Body
What are the limits of our human capacity and to what extent are we allowed to bend reality to our will? And if something is possible, should we also want it? These are the ethical questions raised by Floris Kaayk’s project. ‘The Modular Body’ is an online science fiction story by artist Floris Kaayk about OSCAR, a living organism built by biologist Cornelis Vlasman. Together with a team of like-minded researchers, he started experimenting with organic materials in a laboratory. After years of hard work, Vlasman managed to create new life using cells from his own body, and a living organism was built for the first time in history.
Over the course of the project’s development, more and more videos surfaced online in which Vlasman and his team talk and speculate about the development of OSCAR, which became the subject of an international debate on the ethics and feasibility of building biological life. And not only Vlasman and his team, but the viewers, too, were having a lively discussion: was this real or not, was it a shame or just fantastic? OSCAR went viral and emotions ran high. The project has now been completed and the videos can be found on www.themodularbody.com
