Josh Kline in “Human Nature”
Josh Kline
Descriptive audio version available here.
Populating the galleries of the Whitney Museum of American Art with 3D printed sculptures of office workers wrapped in plastic and neon-orange temporary housing tents filled with emergency supplies, artist Josh Kline offers prophetic warnings of our possible future. This documentary short captures the artist as he investigates the rapid technological advancement, impending climate disaster, and worsening labor conditions that characterize the twenty-first century, highlighting the urgent need for change. “My work, it’s a form of speculation about where we might go–as individuals, as a society, as a species,” says Kline. “At the core of it is a series of questions: Is this the future that we want to live in? If not, what kind of future do we wanna live in?”
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About the artists
Josh Kline was born in 1979 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and currently lives in New York City, New York. From 3D-printed sculptures of unemployed professionals in fields predicted to be eliminated by AI to a fictional commercial for Universal Basic Income to an immersive science-fiction installation set in a climate-refugee camp, Kline explores the impact of emerging technologies, widening class divides, and the looming threat of climate disaster on contemporary life. His works often present dystopic visions of the near future, where the consequences of political instability, the automation of human labor, and natural disasters have transformed life as we know it, engaging audiences in the project of imagining something better.
Educator Guides provide information about selected artists and themes, questions for classroom discussions, and hands-on activities that provide students with a fundamental understanding of creative and critical thinking processes.
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