ancient://technology
48 Hester St, NYC 8/7-8/28 W-Sa 12-6pm
5x5 Collective //est 5.5.25
Ancient Technology

Made by Humans

by Nikhil Kumar

Made by Humans artwork 1
About the Work

This sculpture began as a phrase, "Made by humans," as the first line in a three part poem imagining a conversation with humans 500 years in the future. Using custom-built software, I translated that text into DNA encoding, then used AI tools to predict its resulting protein structure. Finally, I worked with Diego Anaya of Black Brick Project to sculpt metal by hand into that protein form. Steel has been a medium for transferring human knowledge for millennia. DNA, perhaps the oldest technology to convey complex information in simple code, may give us the best chance of communicating with the future while being understood. In the distant future, when humanity itself may be a memory, this piece functions as a time capsule written in the language of life

$5000
The Artist
Nikhil Kumar headshot

Nikhil Kumar

Nikhil Kumar is a multimedia artist primarily focused on sound and biomaterials. He's fascinated by non-human scale and uses his art to explore subjects from unconventional perspectives. He is the co-founder of 5x5 Collective and likes learning how to make the things he consumes.