Aleksandra Domanović, Belgrade Hand on Minsky Tentacle Arm, 2013. Archival ink-jet print, wooden frame with Soft-Touch finish, museum glass. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin
Aleksandra Domanović
The Future Was at Her Fingertips
27 April – 30 June 2013
at Tanya Leighton, Berlin
In The Future Was at Her Fingertips Domanović explores the circulation and reception of images and information, relating specifically to the history of the Internet and technology in the former Yugoslavia. The exhibition draws attention to one of the earliest attempts to develop an artificial limb with the sense of touch – known as the ‘Belgrade Hand’. Invented by Rajko Tomović at the end of the Second World War as a prosthetic device intended for soldiers who had lost their hands in the war, it was then further developed by scientists at MIT. The prosthetic later stared in Donald Cammell’s 1977 Hollywood movie Demon Seed where a scientist created ‘Proteus’ – an organic super computer with artificial intelligence who became obsessed with human beings.
In tracing the history of Tomović’s hand Domanović uncovered just how important women were in the development of the creation of the Internet, Cybernetics, virtual reality and multimedia. From Ada Lovelace who wrote what is considered to be the first computer programme, to Sadie Plant’s work on the social potential of cyber-technology, to the registration of the .yu domain by Slovenian Internet pioneer Borka Jerman Blazić, Domanović charts a history in which women are the unsung heroes of technical innovation. [read the full text here]
Tanya Leighton
Kurfürstenstraße 156
10785 Berlin
Germany
tanyaleighton.com
Opening hours
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Aleksandra Domanović “The Future Was at Her Fingertips” Instalation view. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin
Aleksandra Domanović, Relay Runner, 2013. Laser sintered PA plastic, polyurethane, Soft-Touch & aluminum finish, yugoslav chestnut. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin
Aleksandra Domanović, Little Sister, 2013. Laser sintered PA plastic, polyurethane, Soft-Touch & aluminum finish, acrylic glass. Courtesy the artist and Tanya Leighton, Berlin