Stelarc's work is based on the central idea that the human body has become obsolete, or rather; "biologically inadequate." Since the late 1960's, Stelarc has created a vast and impressive body of work dedicated to the physical enhancement of the human body through technological means. Stelarc suggests that like computers, our physical bodies must be constantly upgraded to evolve and adapt to the highly technological culture we have created. Stelarc's website conveniently serves as the "archival space" for his large body of work. Navigating through an extremely organized and user-friendly layout, the viewer is able to investigate each major project of the artist's career. In addition, this high-tech site houses audio interviews, performance video clips, concise descriptions and images of each project, an in-depth biography, and a selected bibliography. Because of the audio and video components of the site, users may have to download free software for full access, which may cause problems for those who cannot run the latest software on their obsolete computers.
Biography:
Stelarc is an Australian performance artist, born in Limassol on the Island of Cyprus. He moved to Australia, where he studied arts and craft at T.S.T.C., and art and technology at CAUTECH and M.R.I.T., Melbourne University. Stelarc did not find much enthusiasm directed towards his work within these institutions. Stelarc recalls attending the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in the following way: "No one understood what I was trying to do, and in fact I wasn't allowed to do a fourth year, and so I was never allowed to complete my art course." After leaving the Institute, Stelarc moved to Japan, where he found the technological environment in which he could produce his work. He taught art and sociology at Yokohama International School, and drawing and sculpture at Ballarat University College. Since the late 1960's, he has performed extensively in Japan, Europe, and the USA. Aside from traditional venues, his work has been included in a variety of new music and dance festivals as well as in experimental theatre. Through the use of medical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, virtual reality systems and the Internet, Stelarc explores alternate, intimate, and involuntary interfaces with the body.
Quotations:
"Well, I think, I've always been uneasy about the artist as simply a craftsperson who just simply makes
or produces cultural artifacts that are considered beautiful or sensitive or whatever. What's more intriguing
is the artist who works with ideas, who uses their art as a means of exploring the personal and the public and
who tries to get a sense of what it means to exist in the world. And I'm much happier if the artist is seen as a
poet or a philosopher than as a craftsperson."
Taken from: a-r-c.gold.ac.uk/reftexts/inter_melanitis.html
"Often, value judgements are immersed in cultural memory, personal history,
and the moment in time with which the given institution will function. I'm not a techno-nerd,
I'm not even a techno-enthusiast in that sense of the word. Technology comes from the Greek word techne,
meaning skill. So technologies are merely the contemporary strategies for determining and evaluating the
world and the body that inhabits and interacts with it. It's not a dilemma for me, but that's not to say
that as artists we're not concerned with the abuses of those technologies, or we're not worried about the
human and social despair that occurs with the use of military or medical technologies."
Taken from: www.cyberstage.org/archive/cstage12/stelrc.htm
Critical Text:
In the late 1960's, Stelarc began to work with the idea that the human body is a limited being,
rapidly approaching obsolescence. Through kinetic body attachments, Internet-body connectivity, and computer
chip-sculpture implants, Stelarc has set out to redefine the nature of the human body and "up-date" it to our
current level of our ever-increasing technological advancement. As with all radical thought and experimentation,
controversy is always a present factor. Stelarc's quest for a technologically compatible body has sometimes been
regarded as fascist, but the artist insists that he is not playing the role of Dr. Frankenstein and remains optimistic
in his techno-vision of enhancing human life. This idea of the "up-graded" body serves as a magnet for skepticism and seems to not only provoke, but also challenge our culturally constructed ethical and moral codes.
Through Stelarc's notion of the "obsolete body", the spectator can begin to understand the underlying themes surrounding the artist's 30+ years of production. This particular idea stems from the question of whether the human body, in its natural state, is an adequate biological form if it cannot even process the quantity, complexity, and quality of data it has accumulated. Stelarc makes the suggestion that we are intimidated-or perhaps, jealous-of the precision, speed, and power of the technology that surrounds us. Like a classic sci-fi scenario, the human body and mind have created technology that has surpassed our own physical capacity for storing and retrieving information. Through his questioning of inadequacy, Stelarc has come to the realization that the human body is neither efficient nor durable in structure and is susceptible to many complications. In his words, the human body "malfunctions often and fatigues quickly; its performance is determined by its age. It is susceptible to disease and is doomed to a certain and early death. Its survival parameters are very slim - it can survive only weeks without food, days without water, and minutes without oxygen."
These observations are true, but do they give us reason to "upgrade" ourselves into more advanced beings that are unsusceptible to such laws of nature? Stelarc says that it may be the "height of technical folly to consider the body obsolete in form and function," but then notes that it may be "the height of human realizations." The artist refrains from giving hard answers but is full of suggestions. This non-judgmental and optimistic outlook is what separates Stelarc from the "mad-scientist" accusation and places him into the position of an optimistic visionary.
When questioning the controversy over Stelarc's work, one must reflect on his ideas in relation to contemporary science and medical practice. How far does the work of Stelarc deviate from the already accepted procedures for prolonging human life and upgrading the human body? Our culture has learned to embrace the idea of prolonging life through organ transplants and other types of surgery, and has become more than accepting of such kinetic body-sculpture devices as wheelchairs and artificial limbs. There is an ongoing battle against disease and a collective fear of coming face to face with, and finally experiencing, death. It is this fear that justifies our manipulation of nature when our lives are at stake. The reason why the work of Stelarc has the possibility or tendency of being labelled fascist is not because he is suggesting an alteration in nature, but because he is suggesting digital "upgrading" well before our collective culture feels comfortable with such a concept. Stelarc has envisioned within his work a human-machine evolution during which our bodies will adapt and transform to match the technological advancements we have introduced to our culture. He has created a blueprint for an adequate and ideal biological form for the human body.
In an Internet article, Stelarc is described in one word: Amplification. His ideas are extreme and therefore call for strong degrees of both positive and negative feedback. His work can be considered as either an amplified and satirical critique of contemporary technology or a radical step towards human technological "advancement." Depending on how his work is considered, people's reactions to it will vary drastically.
