Aussie Artist Implants Third Ear in His Own Arm
Austrailian artist Stelarc — formerly Stelios Arcadiou — spent 10 long years searching for a surgeon willing to perform a controversial operation to implant a third ear onto his forearm ‘in the name of art,’ which was created in a lab from human cartilage.
“It is more of a relief at present than an ear but it is still recognizable as an ear.” Stelarc said. “The last operation was in September 2006 and it’s only now that I’m about ready for the next step. I hope to have a tiny microphone implanted to it that will connect with a Bluetooth transmitter. That way you can listen to what my ear is hearing.”
Stelarc reflects upon his living exhibit stating that art “should be more than simply illustrating.” reports Daily Mail.
Color me revolted. Is this truly art, science, or pure insanity?
Photo Tim Wetherell and Stelarc
Throughout October the Centre for Life in Newcastle will host Stelarc’s latest installation titled ‘Walking Head’, a 6 legged robot with its head on a screen which was constructed with the assistance of The Nottingham Trent University Engineering team, using fluidic rubber muscle actuators.
The installation “examines the technological terrain that we now inhabit, and the increasingly blurred distinction between the living and the dead, exposing biological bodies as inadequate and obsolete.”
The robot is an embodied conversational agent programmed to respond to someone entering the room. The robot has a scanning ultra-sound sensor that detects the presence of a person in front of it. It sits still until someone comes into the gallery space, then stands, selects from a set of movements from its bank of pre-programmed motions and performs the choreography. It then stops and waits until it detects someone else. It was completed for New Territories, Glasgow.
Photo Tim Wetherell and Stelarc
The Partial Head was a project that was inspired and generated from the image of flattened digital skin that was made for the ‘Prosthetic Head’ — a computer generated head that speaks to the person who interrogates it. The artist’s face was scanned, as was a hominid skull. The human face was then digitally transplanted over the hominid skull, constructing a third face, one that becomes post-hominid and pre-human in form.
Photo Tim Wetherell and Stelarc
The data was used to print a scaffold of ABSi thermal plastic, using a 3D printer. The scaffold was seeded with living cells. The Partial Head is a partial portrait of the artist, which was partially living. Its life-support system was a custom engineered bioreactor / incubator and circulatory system which immersed the head in nutrient maintained at 104 F (37 C), but became contaminated after one week. It was preserved in formaldehyde for the remaining time of the exhibition for “Imagine” at the HEIDE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, Heide Museum of Modern Art from July through October, 2006.
Stelarc is an Australian artist who has performed extensively in Japan, Europe and the US, including new music, dance festivals and experimental theatre. He is a performance artist whose work ‘explores and extends the concept of the body and its relationship with technology through human involuntary machine interfaces’ using medical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, Virtual Reality systems and the Internet.
He is Principal Research Fellow in the Performance Arts Digital Research Unit at The Nottingham Trent University, UK.
Related stories:
Extreme Tattoos for Science and Tech Geeks
Hair Raising Human Hair Artwork
David Altmejd – Sculptor and Artist Extraordinaire
$98 Million Diamond Skull Unveiled by Damien Hirst
Own an Art Masterpiece using Your DNA
Artist Creates Emotional Maps of Cities using Polygraph and GPS
hmmmm Deborah…
…..sorta gives me the spooks…….don’t think I will be having any transplants in the name of art though…..
Having an extra ear will come in useful if he ever goes through a Van Gogh stage in his life! An eye at the back of the head even more useful though.
I suppose we tend to think of art as having to be pleasing to the eye and mind but why not challenge the mind too.
It kind of gives me the creeps as well Kim. I wonder at times if it’s something that some extremists actually believe in, or a radical attempt to gain recognition, which is not often easy for an artist to receive.
Haha, good one Sue
You do make a valid point — we typically do expect art to be pleasing to us.
The idea that someone would do this was pretty much beyond comprehension for me until I was well into the post. And there I found the word that explained it all. “University”.
Haha, I nearly spewed my Coke David
Like sue said art doesn’t have to be pleasing to everyone, just a form of expression for the artist. that being said, implanting an ear in your forearm is a little bizaare. I did see an episode of Nip/Tuck where they grew an ear on the back of a mouse and then sewed it on to a patient. Can that really be done? Harvesting body parts from animals?
Yes Gorilla, I’ve seen the procedure as well. But I would think that the ear would be more for cosmetic purposes. It would take a small miracle to include hearing capacity.
However, there are large possibilities for new cloning procedures.
I don’t really see any art in this. This is being plain stupid.
It’s certainly off-the-wall, Secrets.
deborah, you need someone to talk to?
I don’t exactly follow you, Madvillain. In what sense?
[...] stories: Gang Tattoos Passe – Extreme Makeovers Aussie Artist Implants Third Ear in His Own Arm Phenomenal Body Art Tattoos and Piercings Extreme Body Art – Erl Van Aken Extreme Body Piercing – [...]
I can’t decide whether I’m repulsed or intrigued. It is certainly an entirely unnecessary procedure, but I can appreciate the creative process that compelled Stelarc to do this.