STELARC: FUMA Art Exhibition Review
WORDS BY HARI PRASAD
The idea of such a theme is to examine the concept of “monsters” which the curators tell us ‘comes from Latin monere, to warn, and monstrare, to show or make visible’ and the numerous meanings of theatre—that of a place of dissection, violence, or as a social space. Such a theme is open to numerous interpretations and forms, and many Australian artists are encompassed in such themes.
Cypriot-born Australian, Stelarc, is very much at the heart of such themes. Stelarc’s experimental performance art encompasses testing of the human body—notably through the use of suspension using metal hooks that pierce his skin, videos made inside his body, a range of technological extra appendages and exoskeletons, and the grafting of a human ear on his arm. While some work of Stelarc’s may be seen as very visceral and grotesque (and thus fitting for the theme of ‘Monster Theatres’), it is an important exploration of the human body’s future potential and forms. It raises a range of moral and other philosophical and technological questions on human body modification and augmentation in the future.
AGSA has Stelarc’s ‘Reclining StickMan’, which is a recent work that examines a nine-metre long robot exoskeleton actuated by pneumatic rubber muscles that visitors can control through a set of controls. Exoskeletons are an increasingly important idea to complement and strengthen how the human body can move and operate. Exoskeletons are especially being seen as ways for those with disabilities to move independently, as well as the potential for exoskeletons to be used for warehouse workers, miners, and soldiers to strengthen, protect, and increase performance. Stelarc’s exoskeleton is much larger than the current prototypes being tested today, but as a performance piece it introduces some important questions, namely one I had never thought about, which is the idea of exoskeleton agency not being controlled solely by the human body in it but externally.
Housed at FUMA is a small retrospective of Stelarc’s practice which encompasses several media of artwork. These are videos of performance art, physical displays of robotic arm extensions, engineering-like designs of some of Stelarc’s ideas, photos of Stelarc’s works, and lastly postcards from many of Stelarc’s multiple overseas exhibitions.
FUMA has given a broad overview of Stelarc and his performances, and one can get the idea of Stelarc’s first tests of human limits through his suspension pieces and his later works on supplementing the human body. It is clear to see that as technology and abilities have changed, Stelarc has remained at the forefront as an artist (and, it is argued, even as a technologist or engineer) in examining the possibility of the human body’s future. While some may see this as an examination of human obsolescence, it can be argued that Stelarc speculatively looks at the human interaction with technology as evolutionary itself and thus it can be seen as why his work is considered transhumanist at its core.
In some ways it feels that for an artist with such a sizeable collection of work, a larger amount of videos and photos should be hosted. However, there are physical limitations and the exhibition at FUMA gives a very clear introduction and examination of Stelarc.
Thus, the FUMA exhibition is a fascinating look at a premier artist and the evolution of his work and something that many should witness if they are interested in the arts, and its critical intersection and relation with the sciences and technology.
Pictured above: Stelarc, Handswriting - Writing One Word Simultaneously with Three Hands, Maki Gallery, Tokyo 1982, c-type photograph, on loan from the artist; Photographer: Keisuke Oki
Pictured above: Stelarc with his work Reclining StickMan, 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Monster Theatres; Photographer: Saul Steed
Flinders University Museum of Art’s 2020 Exhibition Review Competition
Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA) hosts a dynamic program of exhibitions showcasing historical and contemporary works by Australian and international artists. We present thematic and solo exhibitions at Bedford Park campus and in venues regionally and nationally, regularly featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and curators.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic our next exhibition IN THE HOLD: Decolonising Captain Cook in contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, curated by Dr Ali Gumillya Baker and FUMA Director Fiona Salmon, will be presented online. We invite reviews and critical discussion of this new platform for the sixth issue of Empire Times, due 24th July, 2020.
The winning review will be published in Empire Times and the author will receive a FUMA prize pack. At the end of the year all published reviews will be judged by a panel of arts professionals and the author of the best overall review will win $250 prize money.
Find more information here:
www.flinders.edu.au/museum-of-art/programs/2020-exhibition-review-competition
EDITORIAL NOTE: This article has been reuploaded and was originally published in 2020.