The connection between performance arts and technology with the use of machinery in art 20. dates back to the turn of the century. The Bauhaus School used the machine in their theater plays and stage performances.. In the middle of the century, famous musicians of the period such as John Cage, David Tudor and famous dancers such as Merce Cunningham gave importance to technology.. They adopted the concept of performing arts and technology as a reality of the age.. By working on this path, they realized that the elements of performing arts and technology were moving in the same direction.. Innovations brought by technology have always had an important place in the art production of these names.
20. In the mid-19th century, two engineers, Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer, formed a group of artists.. This group includes artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman.. This group performed a series of performances with ten stage performers and thirty engineers under the title of “9 Evenings: Theater and Engineering” in the same period.. In these performance series, examples of advanced technology of the period such as projection, wireless sound transfer system, sonar devices were used.. Adopting the concept of performance art and technology, these four names established a group called “Experiments in Art and Technology” (E.A.T) in 1970.. This community operated until the eighties.. Names such as John Cage, Merce Cunningham and Andy Warhol also supported these activities.
E.A.T.. The ensemble named has worked on how artistic expression can act with developing new technologies.. Computer-themed images, sounds, use of video, synthetic materials and robots have been evaluated as tools of this new art system.
E.A.T. In the mid-sixties, an approach was taken that the distinction between technology and art should be abolished.. Stelarc is among the artists who took the concept of performing arts and technology to the extreme in the following years.
Who is Stelarc?
Stelarc, 1946 Born in Limassol, Cyprus. His real name is Stelios Arcadiou, but he legally changed his name in 1972.. Most of his works have focused on the concept of “capacity of the human body”.. Until 2007, she worked as a research assistant in the Performing Arts and Digital Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University in England.. He continues his research today at Curtin University in Western Australia.
Stelarc’s distinctive performances often include modern technologies that are robotic or integrated with his body.. The famous artist allows his body to be controlled remotely by electronic muscle simulators connected to the internet in his performances.. A robotic third arm also performed with a spider-like six-legged walking machine that places the user in the middle of the legs and allows them to control the machine with arm movements.
Technological Performances of Stelarc
Third Hand
The “Third Hand”, made with the assistance of Imasen, is an electronic device that can rotate 290 degrees and grasp objects. Duralamine, aluminum, stainless steel, acrylic paint and resin are used as materials in its structure.. The “Third Hand”, which works with the Electromyography (EMG) system, that is, the electrical energy created by the movable muscles, is mounted on Stelarc’s right arm.. This device can act by taking its energy from electrolytes attached to the abdominal and leg muscles. is based on. In this method, also called electropuncture, it is possible to move the muscles differently from each other by stimulating the nerves with electricity with electrolytes placed on the skin.. De Boulogne’s experiments on facial muscles, Stelarc spread throughout his body and brought the “Third Hand” to life.. Later, by adding on this project, the project named “Improved Arm” was obtained with the Third Hand project.. The arm used is manipulated through a series of switches that cause the fingers to move and the wrists to rotate.
Stomach Statue
Stelarc has filmed her stomach 3 times. He swallowed a tiny camera, which he called the stomach statue, to view the inside of his stomach.. The famous artist, who filmed and broadcast live the points where this camera was hanging around his body, came back from the brink of drowning in a few attempts.. This 40cm tall stomach sculpture is a simple endoscopy system and captures the artist’s body on camera.. With this performance, he wanted to prove that the human body is an art in itself, with the help of technology..
Ear on the Arm
The most interesting performance of Stelarc in the mid-2000s is the project called Ear on the Arm. The artist has designed to place an extra ear on his body by using the latest technological possibilities of medical science.. He thought of placing the ear on his head first.. However, he decided to place this extra ear on his left upper arm, considering that he would not be able to observe during the surgery and that his facial nerves might be damaged.
Eight ears were made for trial purposes.. Live mouse cells were used in the ears made.. A microphone is placed in the ear during this surgery.. After the operation, the ear, which lives under a thin skin on the left upper arm, transfers all the sounds it hears to the internet via bluetooth technology.. Stelarc can track the sounds his extra ear hears all over the world.
Exoskeleton / Movatar
The exoskeleton is a 590-kilogram spider-like machine. At the start of the performance, Stelarc is put into the machine by two assistants.. Later, this big robot, which he is in, walks around the stage with the movements detected by the sensors attached to his upper body.
The signal source of the giant spider machine is another application called Movatar. Movatar is instant motion capture system. It determines the movements of the artist according to the heart rhythm of the artist.. Thanks to this system, the artist exhibits his art on the stage.. Due to its connection with the exoskeleton, it can control its movements.. Heart rhythm can be changed by human emotions.. This change is the purest example of human behavior. Stelarc wanted to reflect purity to its audience.. Thanks to these two examples, it is understood that he uses technology effectively in the art world.