About the performance

For me, Stelarc’s performance could be classified briefly in 3 types.

The first type is “Suspension” which he hang himself with hooks. This type of performance has been shown in many different locations in different surrounding environment. It has been shown on the public area, e.g. street, museum, the seaside etc.

The second type is “Suspension + Technology”. For example, The “Stretched Skin/Third Hand”, which was showed in Japan in 1988, was a performance which combined the elements of “Suspension” and “Technology – Third Hand".

The third type is that the “technology” which the whole performance mainly focus on the interaction between the products of technology and Stelarc, such as the Stomach Sculpture, which was shown in Melbourne in 1993, the Amplified Body and the Ping Body.

Amplified Body

Ping Body - an Internet actuated and uploaded performance which the movement of the artist’s body is "controlled" by “external ebb and flow of data” on the Internet. (for further information, you may visit : http://www.stelarc.va.com.au/pingbody/index.html)

In my opinion, the performance of the Third Hand could be classified in both the second type and third type.

For the second type, an example has already been raised. For the third type, there were independent performances which were about “technology “ in specific of the Third Hand and Stelarc only. For example, the famous performance “ Handwriting - Evolution” is about Stelarc used both his biological hands and the Third hand to write a word “Evolution” at the same time.




Reference :

Inverse Motion Capture and Motion Prosthesis in Contemporary Media Art: Stelarc's Movatar and Other Works

http://www.conceptlab.com/uci/2003-fall-277b-mocap-stelarc.html