From the daily use of technologies that are already an integral part of our lives, like the pacemaker or the smartphone, to outright fantasies relative to overcoming the physical and mortal dimensions of the human being, the series by the Swiss artist tracks the individuals, from Switzerland to Russia, from France to the Czech Republic, responsible for the key objects and concepts of this movement, highlighting the complexities and darker sides of the issue.
The exhibition, curated by Irene Alison and Paolo Cagnacci, suggests a new direction for the photographic approach undertaken by Rifugio Digitale in investigating the dialogue between natural and artificial, but also between the terrestrial and spiritual dimensions, seen through the eyes of photographers who have studied the tension between the two that runs through our contemporary history, reflecting on the position of mankind on the planet.
In this context, the photographs by Matthieu Gafsou reveal not only the most far-fetched frontiers and the greatest paradoxes of technological progress, but also the existential dilemma to which the transhumanist projection exposes us: will we ever be ready to abandon our human bodies in favor of a more hybridized dimension with machines? How will we reimagine our existence if in a post-human future we can postpone our appointment with death indefinitely?
Matthieu Gafsou lives and works in Lausanne, Switzerland. After obtaining a master’s degree in philosophy, literature and cinema at the University of Lausanne, he studied photography at the School of Applied Arts in Vevey. Since 2006, Gafsou has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions, and has published six books.In 2009, Gafsou received the “HSBC Foundation Award for Photography” and was subsequently invited to contribute to the reGeneration2 exhibition created by the Musée de l’Elysée. In 2014, the same museum produced the solo exhibition Only God Can Judge Me. In 2018, the H+ exhibition is one of the highlights of the Rencontres de la Photographie d’Arles and then travels around the world (China, Australia, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, etc.). In 2022, the project Vivants is presented in extenso at the Pully museum and at Paris Photo where Gafsou wins the Ruinart prize. Gafsou has been teaching for several years at the École cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL). He is also a founding member of the MAPS agency.
