posthumanism

The Body as Canvas

Post-Humanism

The body as a canvas has increasingly become a canvas for technology, acting as an experiment of shifting techo-centric identities. Technology has been utilised as an art form – with the ability to alter and shape the way we interact with the world not only within a physical space, but a virtual one as well, we are able to break beyond the boundaries of what our established notion of human identity is. Technology has thus become post-modernism’s manifesto – and with it, our bodies have become objects we are unafraid to alter.

12896(such as Stelarc’s performace artwork, as discussed in my previous post)

As technology develops, we are able to use our bodies as the interaction for the machine – we become the interface. This is seen in RedTacton, where the ability to “[send] data over the surface of the skin, it may soon be possible … to swap phone numbers by kissing” (Taipei Times 2005), and ‘Brain Orchestra’, which aims to “see what the brain can do without the body” (BBC News 2009).

We then reject the idea of the corporeal form, moving beyond the limitations of our physical bodies.“The human modification of the natural world” (Tenner 2004) is, thus, authorisation of body as canvas. Ultimately we aim to better the form of the body through augmentation, which has both assistive and destructive implications.

Humanity is constantly obsessed with enhancing our form – we are not happy with the flimsiness of our body, the temporal nature of our lives. We see technology as an aid for correcting nature’s mistakes. However, this combination of a human-technology identity does have negative consequences; Society will ultimately be altered in drastic ways, specifically, issues with “…security, wealth, language (and body language) and our understanding of what it is to be organic will shift” (Forder 1998).

 

“Are we to paint what’s on the face, what’s inside the face, or what’s behind it?”

– Picasso

 

In relation to post-humanism, Picasso has also shifted and altered the human form and thrown it in the face of society through his art. His work ultimately reflects our attitude towards the altering of the human form in our current post-modern era.

201299201Les Demoiselles d’Avignon – Pablo Picasso (1907)

Consequences: Desire of Knowledge

Are we to paint what’s on the face? The way in which we choose to present ourselves, our identities, through physical manifestations, shows an important aspect of how technology has already begun to seep into our idea of the self – how we communicate, the images we choose to show on Facebook. As this begins to develop in the future, we may find ourselves with a rich virtual identity but a shallow physical presence. As technology “may soon be able to communicate our subconscious states” (Gosman 2009), the issue of personal space and privacy poses as a huge threat on mental health and security.

Consequences: Desire of Physical Manipulation

Are we to paint what’s inside the face? In terms of health science, genetic engineering allows for the prolonging of life through high “standards of health” (Ihde 1993) and the introduction of medicines, such as the “Salk vaccine for polio” (Ihde 1993). As beneficial as genetic engineering is currently, in terms of projected post-humanist scenarios, this raises questions of over-population, food supply and over-reliance of technology to achieve a normal standard of living.

The ‘end of the human’ (Graham 2002), can thus be seen as the ultimate dependence and desire to become as involved the complex nature a techno-centric identity (Ihde 1993). Are we to paint what’s behind it? The question of painting behind the ‘face’ is ambiguous. Are we one to correct the fallible human body, ultimately reshaping what we deem as normal society today? Where does the organic human identity lie, and where does the technological augmentation begin? These are huge questions with many possible answers, all of which cannot be solved today – only time will tell if we adapt or reject these notions of a new form of human identity.

REFERENCE LIST

 

Orlan and Stelarc: Manifesting Posthuman Performance

Post-Humanism

OrlanAAs our speculative object surrounds ideas of Posthumanism and body modification, I will explore the work of two artists, Orlan and Stelarc, and their artistic notions reflecting the augmentation of the body. An artistic framework provides a site for abstraction and consideration, allowing for the exploration of these notions.

Posthumanism is defined as “…an attitude on how to deal with the limitations of the human form. It is a vision of how to move beyond those limits by the radical use of technology and other means” (Ust, 2001). Essentially, it involves the augmentation of the human form by combining it with a technical force. We can see this alteration in aspects of our current society – plastic surgery, tattoos, the use of prosthetic limbs. What is the impact of this technology in regards to human identity? How do we distinguish what is human and what is augmentation, and in the future will there even be a contentious issue, or will technology and human identity mesh into one?

Screen Shot 2014-10-15 at 12.30.44 pm

Stelarc explores this notion through his work PingBody, where his body was connected to the Internet via electrodes linked to modems (Nayar 2004). In this performance, virtual spaces become the location of action. Online data controls the movement of Stelarc through electrodes –the artist is reduced from a participant to an observer: He is at the disposal of others and can only observe what others are doing to him. Although the aim of PingBody is primarily to demonstrate the notion of losing control of one’s self and having others manipulate their movements, and thus their identity, it may also be interpreted as a performance that demonstrates the decline of the body’s identity grounded within physicality to one that is shifting towards the possibility of a new virtual-body-identity.

orlangrapes

Orlan similarly explores these notions within her work, although challenges ideas of body modification through commenting on a Posthumanist process available today – plastic surgery. In The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan, the artist undergoes plastic surgery in order gain the appearance of famous women in fine art: She had her mouth changed to that of Boucher’s Europa, her chin like Botticelli’s Venus, and her forehead like an exaggerated Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (Cook, 2003). Her work shows the ease in which we can change identity through biotechnology. One of her messages, among others, has been achieving this level of technical advancement can be advantageous, but the process is a destructive and horrifying. Ideal beauty, and by extension the ultimate human, is unattainable and becomes a commercial commodity. Her artistic intent has been both feminist and psychoanalytical and reflects her post-modern view of biotechnology in the 21st century.

These works challenge societies’ views of post-humanist identity, specifically the notion of a technology based identity. These artists successfully attempt to show, literally in some instances, the possibilities of a body; how we can alter the body to aid or assist, and alter our current state for aesthetic and conceptual means. These alterations can push the limits of what humanity is capable of, and elevate us into a higher, post-human state of being.

REFERENCE LIST