Abstract

Keywords:
BioArt, Alivenes, Uncanny Valley, Storytelling, Speculative Frameworks, Bioengineering, Biomimetics

The Uncanny Valley is a thought experiment that has been colloquially used since 1970 to discuss technology’s sometimes uncomfortable resemblance to human life. Seventy years later, this paradigm is no longer sufficient when discussing technological uncanniness in the world. Topics like synthetic biology, atmospheric engineering, and biomimetic robotics cannot be understood using a singular threshold based on human likeness. This lack of perspective on how technology reflects and impacts the non-human, “natural” world is particularly apparent in the field of BioArt and BioDesign where critical theory becomes closely intertwined with hard science. Drawing on language from the BioArt domain, this project expands the univariate, human-centric Uncanny Valley by exploring uncanniness along the three axes of the living, the biological, and the natural.

• Lauria Clarke is an artist and educator based in Montreal and New York City. Her sculpture-based practice examines the uncanny intersections of technologies, materials, and bodies that emerge from contemporary conceptions of the natural world. Lauria holds an MFA in Design and Technology from The Parsons School of Design and an MS in Computer Engineering from Northeastern University. She has taught at Hunter College and The Parsons School of Design and is currently a member of the Antimodular Research team.