CLAM-MAN (500+)

Who wants to live forever?

If you could choose a superpower, what would it be? CLAM-MAN is a genetically modified superhuman being. It’s superpower? Being incredibly old. On this earth, there are animals capable of living for a long time, much longer than humans. The oldest known animal is a clam, that died unfortunately at the age of 500+ years old when researchers opened her shell. She is the great inspiration for the cocktail of clam and human genes in CLAM-MAN’s DNA. In the search for longevity, living up to 500+ is a dream come true. But we have to face reality, how are we going to be financially stable for all these years?

My father gave a picture of CLAM-MAN to my grandmother. “That’s me! It’s me“ she exclaimed. She was right. Unconsciously I had made an uncanny resemblance between CLAM-MAN and my grandmother. While the figure was exhibited, my grandmother passed away. She was 97, and her body was not working the way it used to. She was ready to leave. For weeks she hoped she would not wake up, but every morning she did. Despite her fate, she decided to take control. I was so proud of her. She died a beautiful death, in peace, in love. On the day of her euthanasia, she whispered her last advice in my ear:

“Becoming 100, you don’t have to wish for it.”

CLAM-MAN was created during the Design Challenge: Who Wants to Live Forever? at CUBE design museum in 2020, under the guidance of Mark Sturkenboom.

The piece was exhibited in (Re)design Death at CUBE design museum, Kerkrade (NL), from 2020 to 2021, and later featured in Dutch Death Design at Museum Tot Zover, Amsterdam (NL), from 2022 to 2023.