[ISEA2023] Artist Statement: France Cadet — Robotocène

Artist Statement 

Exhibition at Digitale Zone, Marseille and Musée Dehors (Museum Outside), Caen, June 1, 2022 – June 1, 2023

“Robotocene” contains the following artworks by France Cadet:

      • “Dodo”
      • “Kentucky 31”
      • “Dolly”
      • “The dog of Vaucanson”
      • “Robotic dog anatomy”
      • “Digital romance”
The exhibition “Robotocene” traces upheavals, from man’s disastrous impact on nature and biodiversity (“Dodo”), through the exploitation of animals for agri-food purposes (“Kentucky 31”), to the advent of substitute robots. France Cadet shows us creatures that suffer (“Dolly”) and become increasingly alive, robots with digestive mechanisms (“The dog of Vaucanson”) or biological organs (“Robotic dog anatomy”), even endowed with emotions and inter-species attachment (“Digital romance”).

  • France Cadet (b. 1971) is a French artist working in the field of art-science hybridization. Her training in biology left her with a taste for anatomy. Neither technophile nor technophobe, she questions our relationship with technology. She is interested in the technological mutations of our world, in our becoming cyborgs, in our fusion with the machine, but also in our impact on nature. Ms. Cadet is the head of the robotics lab at the École Supérieure d’Art d’Aix-en-Provence and taught at the renowned School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her works have won prizes at VIDA 6.0 (Madrid, 2003) and the Digital Stadium Awards (Tokyo, 2004). They feature in the MEIAC collection (Badajoz, 2006).. https://www.francecadet.com   http://www.blackboxgallery.dk