Stelarc

"He is a real pioneer of robotic art, all the artists that we are seeing now come from him."

ABOUT

Stelarc’s projects explore alternative anatomical architectures. He is acknowledged internationally as a pioneer in Performance, Media Arts and by the Augmented Humans research community. He has used biomedical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, virtual systems and the internet for his projects and performances.

He has visually probed and acoustically amplified his body. Between 1973-1976 he filmed 3m of internal space, probing his stomach, lungs and colon. And with his early performances amplified his brainwaves (EEG), heartbeat (ECG), blood-flow (ultrasound sensors) and muscles (EMG). Exploring the physical and psychological parameters of the body he has realised 27 suspension performances in different positions, locations and circumstances.

He has performed with a Third Hand, an Extended Arm, a Stomach Sculpture, industrial robot arms, 6-legged walking robots and a Prosthetic Head. In 1995 for Fractal Flesh at “Telepolis” his body was remotely choreographed using muscle stimulation. People in the Pompidou in Paris, the Media Lab in Helsinki and the Doors of Perception in Amsterdam where able to access his body remotely and interact with it. Ping Body in 1996 and Parasite in 1997 were online performances where the body was animated by internet data. The body becomes a split body, voltage-in actuating the body, voltageout controlling his Third Hand.

artist website

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