After considering the possibility of combining animals to help them adapt, I began to think of ways humans could use technology to interfere with nature. The images I found combining the organic and the mechanical were pages from Fritz Kahns's book on the human body. I had never seen these pictures before but apparently they are considered to be some of the first info-graphics. Fritz Kahn was a scientist who worked in 1920's Berlin. He used mechanical metaphors for his insightful theories of how the human body worked and commissioned artists to visualise his ideas. I loved all the examples I could find, I think the ones that look like mechanical cross-sections of glamour posters are the most interesting.
Although I didn't experiment applying mechanical parts to humans, I did try with a few insects- as insects, especially bees are crucial to our survival as they pollinate plants. Insects cannot be allowed to die out... but if they did could they be replaced with machines?
I really like the aesthetic of these images, the combinations between photographs, paintings and real mechanisms but I think I need to start considering how and why these mechanical parts are being applied, and not get carried away with appearance.
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