When the mind will move into the new machine and will look in the eye sockets of its death with tenderness... would it be a human still?

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„Some things are doomed to destruction and oblivion because of their uniqueness; uniqueness belongs to the definition of a miracle. What is common, however, lasts forever.”

J. Dukaj „Other Songs”

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"To be, or not to be..." Shakespeare's dilemma, despite the passage of almost 420 years, is still valid. These words often translated in the economic and consumer sphere to "to have or to be" now have a different connotation. Here we are on the threshold of profound civilization changes initiated on many levels just by one cause: the growth.

That's the reason for technological development coupled with population growth, which in turn pushed economies to overload the autoregulatory capabilities of the planet's ecosystem. This, in turn, irrevocably results in climate change and, in the light of recent news, biological changes in the surrounding environment, and in ourselves.

We have been supplementing our diet for several dozen years (consciously or not) and the technologies surrounding us nearly try to get under our skins. Smartphones become a prosthesis of our brains (memory, sense of direction, ability to learn and solve problems) – we've got all we need in an electronic helpdesk operated by thumb. The Internet and social media become a prosthesis of natural interpersonal relationships. Medical and pharmacological prostheses keep us to live longer than nature would allow. There is also a genetics which can add a few aces to the deck of cards in a hand for the 21st century.

Teenagers cannot imagine a world without the Internet nowadays. Maybe it will be impossible to imagine life without modification within our organisms in the next few decades. For now, being "on-line" and "up-dateing" is necessary to survive in the world around us. It may turn out soon that the "up-grade" of our bodies will be equally important. Not only for "social fun", but because of purely existential environmental conditions as well.

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How far will we go in changing ourselves as human beings?

How far will we be forced to change to survive in increasingly difficult conditions?

When we will take self-evolution in our own hands - what and where will stop us?

How many percent must we changed to become a new species?

Will we be still humans then?

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„Weakness is a great thing, and strength is nothing.

When a man is just born, he is weak and flexible.

When he dies, he is hard and insensitive.

When a tree is growing, it's tender and pliant.

But when it's dry and hard, it dies.

Hardness and strength are death's companions.

Pliancy and weakness are expressions of the freshness of being.

Because what has hardened will never win.”

Andriej Tarkowski – „Stalker”

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Adapt or die.

Exist or get Extinct.

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The biomechanic necklace "Exist or get Extinct" was created for the 29th International Jewellery Competition "Still Human?" and it was selected by the jury to the main exhibition. 357 jewelry pieces were submitted to the competition this year, of which only 44 works were qualified to the main exhibition. Here is the catalog.