Our society is living in an age where humans are dependant on technology. For instance a pair of glasses are a simple piece of technology which many people rely on to be able to see clearly.
The mobile phone has become an item that people carry with them for the majority of the day. This type of technology has been designed to save us time and allows us to communicate with others at anytime. For example we can travel as we talk on the phone. Technology has allowed human beings to work more efficiently. There is also another side of this idea of creating a more perfect human being...the cosmetic side.
Cosmetic surgery is based upon the idea of using science and technology to alter the body and face of a human being. Its aim is to create what society considers "the body beautiful."
The French performance artist Orlan is most famous for her work where she used plastic surgery as a medium. When Orlan was having her plastic surgery she wanted to perform, as operating theatres were once a place that people could go to watch surgery, hence the name theatre. One of her most famous pieces of work was called "The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan." During this project she took 15 of the most famously beautiful images of women (including the Mona Lisa) and super imposed them to create a timeless beauty. She then got surgeons to transform her into this image. During the surgery Orlan recited French poetry. In other operations she has used her own blood to draw self portraits of herself.
Orlan went on to have her nose made as big as it could possibly be.
She experiments with her body as she wants to be considered as living art. When she dies she is donating herself to the Louvre art gallery in Paris.
ORLAN
Born: 30/5/1947
Nationality: French
Her most famous and controversial works include:
*Documentary Study: The Head of Medusa
*The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan
*This Is My Body, This Is My Software
*The Kiss of the Artist
Orlan's Official Website
www.orlan.net
Stelarc is an Australian performance artist who believes that we cannot keep up with machines so he has created technology that allows machines to take control of his body. He created himself a robotic third arm and considers himself to be a "Post-Human engineer."
"Bodies are both Zombies and Cyborgs. We have never had a mind of our own and we often perform involuntarily conditioned and externally prompted. Ever since we evolved as hominids and developed bipedal locomotion, two limbs became manipulators and we constructed artefacts, instruments and machines. In other words we have always been coupled with technology. We have always been prosthetic bodies. We fear the involuntary and we are becoming increasingly automated and extended. But we fear what we have always been and what we have already become - Zombies and Cyborgs."
From the Official Stelarc Website (www.stelarc.va.com.au/arcx.html)
STELARC (born Stelios Arcadiou)
Born: 19/6/1946
Nationality: Greek Cypriot, lives in Australia
His most famous and controversial works include:
*Hanging himself in flesh hook suspension
*Allowing his body to be controlled remotely by electronic muscle stimulators connected to the internet
*Getting a cell-cultivated ear implanted into his left arm
*Creating and performing with a robotic third arm
Stelarc's Official Website
www.stelarc.va.com.au
