Jenseits des Menschen / Beyond Humans

Rainer Maria Matysik: jenseits des menschen / beyond humans is published on the occasion of the exhibition 'Jenseits des Menschen / Beyond Humans' (16 September 2010 - 9 January 2011) at the Berlin Medical History Museum of the Charité, with sculptural interventions by Reiner Maria Matysik in Rudolf Virchow’s specimens collection and in the ruins of his lecture theatre.

With his sculptural prototype models of future life forms and the continuous attempt to create a living sculpture, Matysik works at the interface between art and modern life sciences. In contrast to museological view on man, that is historically derived, he casts his eye towards future man-made developments in a biotechnological future. He ventures a glance into the future of evolution, in which nothing less seems to be at stake than the future of man as biological being.

The book acompanying the exhibition includes contributions by Anita Hermannstädter, Ingeborg Reichle, Thomas Schnalke, Inga Franke und Reiner Maria Matysik. It further elaborates on the interface between science and fine arts by complementing the texts with details of the sculptures expanding beyond the text pages of the book.