Secrets of Life - The Human Machine and How it Works: The Moment of Conception 1970

Editor: Here we have Eduardo Paolozzi’s “Secrets of Life - The Human Machine and How it Works: The Moment of Conception.” It’s a strange, mechanical take on biology. What do you make of it? Curator: It’s like Paolozzi took a scalpel to our ideas of life, isn't it? He slices up the romantic notion of conception, presents it as cogs and wires. He was fascinated by the machine age, and here he's almost mocking our organic processes. Does it make you feel a bit uneasy? Editor: Definitely unsettling! The coldness of the imagery juxtaposed with such a personal, human experience. Curator: Exactly! And perhaps that’s Paolozzi's point. He wants us to confront the clinical reality beneath the surface, the hidden mechanics that drive our very existence. It's rather thought-provoking, don’t you think? Editor: Absolutely. It’s made me see both the beauty and the strangeness of life in a totally new way.