Hermaphrodite
1987
The Hermaphrodite bust is the first prototype sculpture in shape-memory alloy made by Jean-Marc Philippe. It takes the form of a hermaphrodite torso which, between 20 °C and 55 °C, is gradually transformed from a man's torso into a woman's torso, and then changes back into a man's torso when its temperature returns to 20 °C.
This prototype in copper, zinc and aluminium was made in 1987 thanks to a French partnership between Souriau, Tréfimétaux and the CNRS (scientific adviser: Alain Dubertret). It was never sold, because of technical difficulties that had not been fully mastered, concerning in particular the cracking of the material after a certain number of transformation cycles, to which was added the fear of long-term amnesia.
Hermaphrodite at 20°C and 55°C, 1986. Shape-memory alloy. Photographs: Jean-Marc Philippe, 1986.
The first objects made by Jean-Marc Philippe incorporating shape-memory alloys, 1986. Photographs: Jean-Marc Philippe, 1986.
Hermaphrodite, copper-zinc-aluminium shape-memory alloy, 1987.
Writings
By Jean-Marc Philippe
- Cultural Matrix and Artistic Creation: From the Classical Practice of One's Art to Transdisciplinarity — in Michel Cazenave and Basarab Nicolescu (eds), L'Homme, la science et la nature : regards transdisciplinaires, Aix-en-Provence, Le Mail, “Science et conscience” series, 1994, pp. 232-264.
- Sculpture and New Material — in Raymond Daudel and Nicole Lemaire d'Agaggio (eds), La science et la métamorphose des arts, Paris, Presses universitaires de France, 1994, pp. 103-123.
References and links
Books, catalogues and journals
- Philippe Poncet, “Art and Shape-Memory Alloys: Jean-Marc Philippe”, Leonardo, vol. 22, no. 1, MIT Press, January 1989, pp. 117-120.
- Isabelle Lécuyer-Dujardin and Dimitra Markovitsi, “Les nouveaux matériaux – Sculpture à mémoire”, Théma, vol. 5 “Sciences et techniques”, Paris, Larousse, 1994, p. 349.
- Lionel Salem, La Science dans l'art, Paris, Odile Jacob, 2000, chapter “La science ‘mise en art’”, pp. 25-48.
KEO press
- Véronique Maurus, “Retour vers le futur”, Le Monde, 16 August 1998 (online).
Online resources
- Leonardo Awards Program: list of award winners, Leonardo / ISAST.