Message-ID: <Pine.NEB.4.56.0308030158020.13146@panix2.panix.com>
From: Alan Sondheim <sondheim@panix.com>
To: Cyb <cybermind@listserv.aol.com>,
"WRYTING-L : Writing and Theory across Disciplines" <WRYTING-L@LISTSERV.UTORONTO.CA>
Subject: Step Aside, Orlan . . . (fwd)
Date: Sun, 3 Aug 2003 01:58:10 -0400 (EDT)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/news/story/0,11711,1011495,00.html An artist has caused outrage by planning to graft a biotech ear on to his arm Paul Harris Sunday August 3, 2003 The Observer It will shock. But then that's what modern art is all about. In a move that takes art to unheard of extremes, a British-based artist is to transplant a human ear on to his arm. Using techniques of advanced plastic surgery, performance artist Stelarc, originally called Stelios Arcadiou, is to grow the ear in a biotech laboratory and have it grafted on to his forearm. Even in an art world used to the antics of Tracy Emin and Damien Hirst, the Extra Ear project will cause upset. Many critics of unusual modern art say a fringe of the movement is caught in an 'arms race' of stunts that have little artistic merit but plenty of shock value. Last month a French artist cut off his own finger with an axe and donated it to a museum. 'He [Stelarc] is not exploring anything artistic at all. He's just putting an ear on his arm. There is an area of modern art where people just think they can compete to do the most outlandish things. This is not art,' said David Lee, editor of arts magazine Jackdaw. Stelarc defended his work as an exploration of how it is possible to change the human body. His previous works have focused on using machinery and computers to create extensions of the human form. He has built robotic heads and hands that he has controlled, and a six-legged walking machine. 'The issue is not to shock. I want people to see this extra ear and speculate in a way about alternative interfaces on the body. Some people may be repulsed, but it is not the intention,' he said. Stelarc, 57, who is Australian, holds a post at Nottingham Trent University as a principal research fellow at the Performance Arts Digital Research Unit. He has put on shows in Europe, Japan and the United States and uses medical instruments, prosthetics and robotics in his displays. He once inserted a capsule into his stomach with flashing lights and noises. For his ear project, Stelarc approached British doctors and medical bodies for help, but none would take on the operation. However, the Australian-based Tissue Culture and Art project has agreed to help him grow the ear. Stelarc hopes to begin the project next month, growing the ear and having surgeons attach it to his body. A plan to put the ear on Stelarc's face was abandoned as it could damage nerves in his cheeks. Samples of Stelarc's cartilage and bone marrow will be taken and grown in a laboratory. The cartilage will be nurtured into the shape of an ear, similar to the technique used to grow ears on laboratory mice. The ear will then be surgically placed under a flap of skin on Stelarc's arm, where it will develop its own blood supply. The ear will be sculpted into shape by plastic surgeons who will give it lobes from skin grafts and shape the flesh on Stelarc's arm. The ear will be a permanent part of Stelarc's body. 'I will always have something up my sleeve,' he joked. Stelarc hopes to fit the ear with a sound chip and a proximity censor so that it can emit sounds or words when people approach. Some artists are appalled. 'This is not art; this is sad. The worst thing is that art students end up following this sort of thing and, if this is a success, we'll probably eventually get students leaving college with toes growing out of their foreheads or something equally bizarre,' said Charles Thomson, founder of the Stuckists group of artists, which campaigns against many forms of modern art in favour of more traditional painting and drawing. Founded four years ago by 12 artists who reject the work of Emin and Hirst, it now has 68 groups around the world. The British Medical Association warned of dangers in the planned operation. 'Potential problems may be unknown at this stage. The artist needs to understand this before he gives informed consent to the "operation",' a spokeswoman said. One thing all agree on is that the project will get many people talking about art in a way that paintings and sculptures rarely do. 'It causes discussion,' said Lee. 'And at the end of the day that is not a bad thing.' ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Printable version | Send it to a friend | Save story Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003