Not Human, Not Fly

Not-human, Not-fly is a publication made of two books. One contains a study on the concept of the posthuman using David Cronenberg’s film The Fly as a starting point. It argues that the human-fly mutant in the film, Brundlefly, is not just another cautionary tale that invalidates deviations from conventional expressions of humankind. The creature is worthy of consideration both as an organism that functions on their own terms, beyond the features of humans and houseflies, and as a picture of Dorian Gray that reveals not some underlying immorality, but the terms for living in an age of systematic environmental destruction that has been called the Anthropocene. The second book is a work of fan fiction: it presents a series of fictional DNA sequence constructs belonging to Brundlefly, which create a narrative based on the genetic transformations that Brundlefly was subjected to, revealing the not wholly linear relations that connect humans, posthumans and houseflies.

Hugo Almeida is an artist (who goes by the name Mao) and postdoc researcher at the Interuniversity Center for the History of Science and Technology (CIUHCT), Faculty of Science and Technology, NOVA University of Lisbon, Portugal. He is an alumni of the Art & Science residency program of the IMéRA Foundation, Marseille (2016-2017), France and of the Saari Residence, KONE Foundation, Mynämäki, Finland (2016). He has been a postdoc at CIEBA, Faculty of Fine Arts of Lisbon University (2013-2016) and holds a PhD in Molecular Biology (2013, NOVA University of Lisbon), from his research at the Telomere and Genome Stability Laboratory, Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), Oeiras, Portugal. Mao normally exhibits and publishes with the art research collective and publishing label Massacre. His work has also been published by Chili Com Carne and Komikaze. He was a founding member of zine label Clube do Inferno (2012-2019).

Outward sleeve: Screenprinted acetate by Hugo Soares (Oficina do Cego)
Dust cover: Digital printing in laminated cardboard