[-empyre-] seeing yourself a prototype - the limits of open source

[Johannes Birringer]

it is disturbing and yet now apparently more acceptably commonplace  to think (in the era of current culturally mediated narcissisms) progressively of self modifications and enhancements, and as Stelarc might phrase it, having done the Extra Ear project or doing it as we speak, of operational augmentations of ageing bodies, bodies less flexible or abled than they could be if they were being prototyped properly for all kinds of new reperformances.   

I am going to comment on the notion of "reperformance" another time,  once i have looked a bit more closely at what Marina Abramovic is up to, being present at her own exhibition or presenting herself as a prototype in performance of her selves as performance artist (former, and the enhanced present one, or retrospective one).

She is actually, now at MoMA in New York City, a retrospective prototyperperformer, as far as i can imagine. For an older generation if live artists enjoying their ephemeral events that took place back then, she is the writing on the wall.   

(see:   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/14/arts/design/14performance.html?pagewanted=1) 

I am running behind, in a manner of speaking,  the synthetic biology  discussion at the moment, sorry,  

but wanted to ask Micha what he imagines "prototyping" (and I do not mean to take seriously any notion of avatar "prototyping" in Second Life, I am afraid) to be if it  "can open up spaces of experimentation with new forms of living which challenge current forms of biopower", you are refering to transgender practice or life? Did you see transgender a a form of prototyping the self, what notion  of self?

>> Davin wrote:>> At one point in time, discrete objects were things that were considered prototypes that could be thrown into an existing system and tested. Increasingly, it seems like the prototypes are geared to test individual and collective consciousness.  In other words, maybe we are the  prototypes?  Being tested so that we can be effectively processed, shrink-wrapped, labeled, bought and sold>>

May I alsio ask, in this context, what Gabriel Shalom meant by "autodocumentarian subjects" ?


greetings 

Johannes


Johannes Birringer
director, DAP lab
School of Arts 
Brunel University
West London 
UB8 3PH   UK
http://www.brunel.ac.uk/dap




-----