After a brief discussion about the wild and wacky world of Stelarc on Monday, some conclusions were made; feel free to disagree.
Sterlarc crosses the moral boundaries for the majority of society. This has made him loved, hated and famous. He is always going for the shock factor in his work, for example he almost always performs nude, with or without an audience. Or he might just like being nude.
Above all the meaning deciphered from all works combined was 'mind over matter'. Using mental strength to overcome physical pain, social conformity etc.
An interesting point we mentioned regarding second life (online experiment where you create your own avatar and basically do everything you'd usually do but in a virtual realm) is that technology removes emotion from situations and can promote cruelty. I completely agree. Thats why cyber bullying is increasingly common and malicious.
Another example of this is the new remote war technology being produced in the U.S.
This involves fighter jet pilots operating their planes from an office, from a desk, in an ordinary building. Its a 9-5 job, close to home, so there are perks created. The disturbing part is how much it resembles a video game, how little emotion is involved when you are that far removed from what your are doing. and how many more mistakes are likely to happen, how many innocent civilians might die if we employ this technology to warfare?
I struggle to see what Stelarc is achieving through all of his experimental installations/art. I know you could easily argue that art is not about achieving it is about raising awareness and creating change; i just don't see any practical applications to his work. I also can't think of where any sort of financial support would come from.
It is very much a male, external, exhibitionist style of art that treats the body like a machine.
There is a need for reason and a need for moral boundaries for this type of work at the same time these sorts of boundaries shouldn't impede on freedom of expression. it is a hard line to draw.
Lets just hope that in the coming years Stelarc maintains sanity, "Increasingly, i feel like i don't have my own mind"- Stelarc.
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