Artist Lucy McRae leads a multi-disciplinary, art-research studio investigating the impact future technologies have on human evolution. In parallel to her gallery and museum-focused art practice she thrives as a director, a maker, in the writer’s room and in the lab.

Boldly staring down the status quo, Lucy pioneers a new story for how future technologies will fundamentally alter intimacy, reproduction, biology and health— shining light on the ethical implications of genetic engineering. Her prophetic aesthetic is flung far from archetypal tropes, creating nostalgia for a future about to happen. Lucy’s work diversifies the predictive voices we traditionally call ‘science’ and ‘technology’, through designing hypothetical worlds that use speculation as a tool to provoke an exploration of ideologies and ethics about who we are, and where we are headed.
 

Lecture Abstract

In 20 to 40 years' time, technologies such as CRISPR will transform humanity and redefine many of society’s structures. When humans are born outside of the body in labs, who will shape these reproductive habitats– and for what purpose?

Calling forth these likely futures, we explore new and interdisciplinary avenues for architecture and design through a process of narrative prototyping: provoking impossible questions and exploring ways in which science fiction can spark real-world discourse.

Incubating a mind state that trusts the unknown, Lucy develops methods for pioneering new aesthetics, new stories, and new ways of being together in the world.