Photophilia

Photophilia is a proposition for a future human that evolved into a human-plant entity that is able to photosynthesise.
The work's title derives from the term 'photophilic', which is used when describing plant life that seeks and/or thrives in sunlight.
As bioethics and biopolitics become more and more integrated in art, there is an emergence of a new way of looking at evolution. Artist Eduardo Kac states that working with biomedia is an act of manipulating life, and for Kac, every manipulation is a part of evolution. Drawing from his idea of evolution, my proposal for the future human is a human that has evolved within the carbon cycle and has gained the ability to photosynthesize. By feeding on solar energy, this human-plant hybrid has regained the egalitarian status within the biosphere and would enter the age of the Post-Anthropocene. Instead of cultivating nature for its own needs, this human is able to produce oxygen and become a sustainable link in the carbon cycle.