E12 dead man on the ground is encased in a full silicon mask overpainted in acrylic, with holes allowing a glimpse of agonized human eyes, and a tongue visible through a gaping, lipless hole, in place of a mouth. The only creature that remains unscathed is the flower, animated on video by the artist's hands, which are visible throughout. One hand is enclosed in a sculptural yellow glove, while the other’s bare skin is overpainted in black and thus partly obscured, requiring effort to discern it against the black background. The protagonists of PostHum Condition: A Tribute to Guernica appear more human than post human in their expressed low-tech make up and lack of technological glitz. And yet, Platnic perceives of them as robots, a term bearing distinct techno-dystopian connotations. They thus occupy an interstitial space between the human and non-human. Rather than a mystifying technological apparatus, it is the artist’s hands that visibly pull strings and levers to animate the bird and the flower, and we see human eyes peering through holes in objectified silicon skins. When an object, especially a humanoid, comes to life and returns our gaze, we come face to face with the Freudian uncanny, and it is precisely this unsettling experience that Platnic is seeking in his tribute to Guernica. In Figure 5. Michel Platnic, Children Playing, 2023. Still from video.
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