If design could make us superheroes, what would we look like? Would we manage to retain our imperfect human essence or will we unknowingly become strange hybrid creatures with the false appearance of extra-terrestrials? The Center for Innovation and Design at Grand-Hornu opens up the field of possibilities by offering us this refreshing recreational exhibition flirting dangerously with science fiction.

Disjointed exoskeletons, futuristic implants, bionic eye prostheses... The proposals follow one another, while new silhouettes appear, each time pushing the laws of the imagination a little further. Among the most extravagant creations, what can we say about the work of Dani Clode whose astonishing third thumb, an extension of our hand printed in 3D, would be controlled… by our feet. Inspired by the animal kingdom, Susanna Hertrich imagines a sensory prosthesis that would give us the keys to surviving extreme environments. Its prototype mask thus reacts to odorless chemicals by curling our lips through an ingenious mechanism like an animal would if we had retained our primary instinct. In this conception of an augmented humanity, the designer Jasna Rok envisages a collection of sensitive and empathetic clothing which would allow us to make emotions visible and facilitate communication for those who wear them... Between moral questions, philosophical debates and problems of ethical, this fascinating exhibition astonishes us with its creativity, its capacity for adaptation and surpassing oneself, while giving reason to the words of Albert Camus who reminds us that Man is indeed "the only creature who refuses to be the one she is.”

CID - INNOVATION AND DESIGN CENTER AT GRAND-HORNU
From March 24 to August 25, 2024
82 rue Sainte-Louise, 7301 Hornu