The content explores the evolving definition of the human body in an era of advanced technology, questioning traditional notions of self and humanity through the lens of performance art that integrates biological and technological elements.
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We're in an age now where bodies are
blurring. We can indefinitely preserve a
corpse. We can sustain a comeomaosse
body on a technological life support
system. Cryogenically preserved bodies
are awaiting reanimation.
Blood that's circulating in my body now
might be circulating in your body
tomorrow. We can [music]
engineer new kinds of chimeic
architectures in [music] vitro, grow
tissue and insert stem cells in vivo. So
we're really at a time of the catava,
the comeomaos
Uh well I'm a performance artist and
I've um
performed for well yeah this this what
am I sort of thing it's it's I find it
very difficult to answer that. I mean
it's sort of
an interesting question.
Uh well not really. Um
let's just talk about the art. [laughter]
It's not that I' I've sort of mastered a
particular skill or a work with only one
particular medium. I'm not a painter or
a sculptor in that traditional sense.
I'm a performance artist. So the works
are conceptually driven and and they're
realized and manifested in a
multiplicity of different media like
medical imaging or uh or robotics or
computer programming or surgical modification.
The stomach sculpture was a project I
did in 1993.
I designed this uh object that opens and
closes, extends and retracts, has a
flashing light and a beeping sound. So
you have to imagine this kind of uh
simple machine choreography occurring
inside the stomach which is normally wet
and dark and somewhat vulnerable. At the
same time, we also had a had to have an
endoscopic tube that tracked the
insertion uh into into the stomach uh uh cavity.
So the body here is performing as a
split body. Uh voltage in producing the
involuntary movements, voltage out uh
enabling it to control a mechanical manipulator.
This is a a six-legged walking robot.
And it's not only a a walking machine,
This was a project that was done in
Hamburg when I was doing a residency
there with the assistance of F18, a
group of artists and engineers. Uh it
took um all in all six months to
design, engineer and finally to perform
The more and more performances I do, the
less and less I think I have a mind of
my own, nor any mind at all in the
traditional metaphysical sense. So what
you see is what you get. uh a physical
body that's obsolete, empty, augmented
with technology and that performs
1 hour is
it's too little time. I mean 1 hour
should be enough but we need if there is
no problem if there is a problem we need
more than 1 hour.
Yeah. But what we need to do is to make
a fixed support
so that the robot can correctly use its
tilt sensor. Otherwise, it'll walk off
the off the edge of the plinth. you.
No.
Yeah, I can. Okay. It's okay for you.
This shadow is very nice, but we can't
[music] see it. You know, it's uh directly.
directly.
I was always interested in uh [screaming]
[screaming]
uh the evolutionary ary sort of
Always envious of athletes, singers,
dancers who use their own body as their
sort of medium of expression and experience.
experience. [applause and cheering]
[applause and cheering]
Hello. Nice to see you. moment for us.
Oh, a big moment for me, too. Excellent.
Excellent. [laughter]
[laughter]
Oh, that's even that's even a bigger moment.
The spectrum of opinion ranges from um
fascination to be amusement and to occasional
occasional
expressions of horror in that um you
know I might be slipping towards
Can I see your ear? Oh, yeah.
Oh, yes.
Oh, yeah. Is it an erotic area?
Oh, no. No, not really. No, no. The idea
with the extra ear was to construct a
soft prosthesis. I had already been
performing with a third hand, but I
wanted to have something uh engineered
on my body using my own skin. So, this
is only a relief of a near at the
moment. We still have to sort of lift
the helix to construct a conch that'll
involve a skin graft. And then using
adipo derived stem cells extracted from
my body, we're going to be growing a
soft earlobe. Uh so this will be a much
more convincing 3D structure uh of an
ear on an arm. Um and then we'll be able
to insert the uh electronics.
We would implant a small microphone that
connected to a wireless transmitter
uh would enable the ear to be internet
enabled within any Wi-Fi hotspot. So,
uh, you know, if you're in London and
I'm in Melbourne, Australia, you would
be able to hear what my ear is listening
to wherever you are and wherever I am.
If you call me on your cell phone,
I will be able to speak to you through
my ear.
But I will hear your voice in my head
because the receiver and speaker will be
inside my mouth. If I keep my mouth
closed, only I will hear your voice. If
I open my mouth, he will hear your voice
So, how how you would have
Well, the um ear project has always been
uh problematic not only with my friends
but also uh with my partners. Uh, I I
have to say that um I probably lost a
partner because of the um ear project
and joking that I was going to um insert
a fluorescent gene so it would glow in
the dark. [laughter]
But uh Nenah is much more understanding.
Uh we met actually in a morg. I saw her
carrying a human arm and I guess uh
that's why she first u attracted my
attention. Uh you know I'm kind of kind
of shy with um relationships but I guess
I didn't have much competition down
there. [laughter]
All the other bodies were somewhat stiff
and cold. [laughter] Yes.
Yes.
Well, certainly there have been no
regrets. I've um taken over 12 years to
try to realize this project. Certainly
undergoing two surgical procedures and
there'll be another one coming up with
stem cell work. It's going to involve um
more discomfort. I mean, you don't
recover in a few weeks. It takes months
to recover from the surgery and months
more before you're ready to do something
in addition. So, uh there'll be more
risks when we reinsert the microphone
and the electronics, which means that uh
there's no guarantee the project will be
[music]
critique about art and I we exchange
some email. I'd hope people [music]
become curious about what in actuality
is a body and how a body performs in the
world and what it means to be human and
is it really necessary to to operate as
if we are a self or a soul or a mind.
Aren't these rather medieval entities
[music] that we should just really do
without? These are outmoded metaphysical
assumptions from [music] Platonic to
cartisian to Freudian constructs of
internal essences. These really are not
necessary in terms of uh functioning in
Oh, it's a different It's a
I will remember. You said that when
robots take over the world. [laughter]
So I think if people kind of go away
asking more questions than having
received answers, then I'd be happy with
Yeah. [music]
Heat. [music]
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