As our speculative object surrounds ideas of Posthumanism and body modification, I will explore the work of two artists, Orlan and Stelarc, and their artistic notions reflecting the augmentation of the body.An artistic framework provides a site for abstraction and consideration, allowing for the exploration of these notions.

Posthumanism is defined as an attitude on how to deal with the limitations of the human form. It is a vision of how to move beyond those limits by the radical use of technology and other means (Ust, 2001). Essentially, it involves the augmentation of the human form by combining it with a technical force. We can see this alteration in aspects of our current society plastic surgery, tattoos, the use of prosthetic limbs. What is the impact of this technology in regards to human identity? How do we distinguish what is human and what is augmentation, and in the future will there even be a contentious issue, or will technology and human identity mesh into one?

Stelarc explores this notion through his workPingBody, wherehis body was connected to the Internet via electrodes linked to modems (Nayar 2004). In this performance, virtual spaces become the location of action. Online data controls the movement of Stelarc through electrodes the artist is reduced from a participant to an observer: He is at the disposal of others and can only observe what others are doing to him. Although the aim ofPingBodyis primarily to demonstrate the notion of losing control of ones self and having others manipulate their movements, and thus their identity, it may also be interpreted as a performance that demonstrates the decline of the bodys identity grounded within physicality to one that is shifting towards the possibility of a new virtual-body-identity.

Orlan similarly explores these notions within her work, although challenges ideas of body modification through commenting on a Posthumanist process available today plastic surgery. InThe Reincarnation of Saint Orlan,the artist undergoes plastic surgery in order gain the appearance of famous women in fine art:She had her mouth changed to that of BouchersEuropa, her chin like BotticellisVenus, and her forehead like an exaggerated LeonardosMona Lisa (Cook, 2003). Her work shows the ease in which we can change identity through biotechnology. One of her messages, among others, has been achieving this level of technical advancement can be advantageous, but the process is a destructive and horrifying. Ideal beauty, and by extension the ultimate human, is unattainable and becomes a commercial commodity. Her artistic intent has been both feminist and psychoanalytical and reflects her post-modern view of biotechnology in the 21st century.

These works challenge societiesviews of post-humanist identity, specifically the notion of a technology based identity. These artistssuccessfully attempt to show, literally in some instances, the possibilities of a body; how we can alter the body to aid or assist, and alter our current state for aesthetic and conceptual means.These alterations can push the limits of what humanity is capable of, and elevate us into a higher, post-human state of being.

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Orlan and Stelarc: Manifesting Posthuman Performance ...