Stelarc is a performance artists whose works focuses heavily on extending the capabilities of the human body. Most of his pieces are centered on his concept that “the human body is obsolete”. Stelarc’s idiosyncratic performances often involve robotics or other relatively modern technology integrated with his body.
Through his work he pushes the boundaries of the human body whilst also making the statement that with the combination of the body and technology we can do weird and wonderful things. Through his work he communicates that through this combination, the human body becomes almost obsolete, as the technological takes over. This is really interestingly linked to our project as we are looking at ‘becoming digital’ and what is to come of the human race once we start modifying ourselves initially for repair, but eventually for improvements, or just fashion trends.
Stelarcs third hand –
A mechanical human-like hand that is attached to his right arm as an additional hand. It is made to the dimensions of his real right hand. It has similar capabilities of a normal human hand – pinch-release, grasp-release, 290 degrees wrist rotation (clockwise and counter-clockwise), and a tactile feedback system for a sense of touch. With the 290 degrees wrist rotation it even betters the normal human hand, which can only rotate just under 180 degrees. The motions of the hand are controlled by the electrical signals of the muscles (EMG), typically from the abdominal and leg muscles for independent movements of the three hands. Simply, signals from muscle contractions are picked up, pre-amplified, rectified and sent to the switching system.
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3I72ct02iY |
Transcendence 