New body, unknown numbers of limbs
Research
2021-on going
The human torso is a mythologised, politicised and gendered part of the body. Societal struggles play out from the human torso as focal point and metaphorical battle ground, over issues such as sexualisation, breastfeeding, ideals of the ‘right’ kind of torso to fit a binary gendered system, representation of post-op bodies, and much more.
On a related note, the idea of LGBTQIA+ people 'lying about their identities and desires' is not new, and is deeply connected to the colonising thought of ownership over someone else's body (as explored in the documentary the Disclosure).
This intersection between the idea of a 'right' kind of torso, and the authenticity of Queer desire, is what I want to explore and create from.
The pneumograph of Verdin, a maker in Pars, is an early 20th century chest device that measures irregularities in breathing; the amount of air present in the pulmons impacts the resistance of the current that is injected across the chest cavity.
The device was first described in a bill entitled Man and abnormal man (1905) by Arthur MacDonald - a report measuring default and 'abnormal' bodies, establishing the first steps towards the place of body signal sensors within the realm of law enforcement, marking the beginning of the legacy of the history of the lie detector.
This is a history deeply intertwined with bias against LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC, surreptitiously with the creation of the 'default body' as the valid referent for body signals measurement, but also more explicitly with the development of devices such as the Vaginal Photoplethysmograph, a device measuring women’s physiological changes during sexual arousal in the context of second-wave feminism in the late 1960s and early 1970s, or the 'fruit machine', a device developed in the 1950s that was supposed to be able to identify gay men (derogatorily referred to as 'fruits').Nowadays, thermography is still the method used that is seen 'to be a valid method for assessing human sexual arousal' (Archives of Sexual Behavior).
CCA Creative Lab:
https://www.cca-glasgow.com/programme/
Vacma:
https://www.creativescotland.com/funding/funding-programmes/funding-delivered-by-partners/visual-arts-and-crafts-awards
Online performance at Stereoskop, 30/04/2020
In 1905, The pneumograph of Verdin, was first described in a bill entitled Man and abnormal man (1905) by Arthur MacDonald - a report measuring default and 'abnormal' bodies. Establishing firstly the default body in the realm of body signal measurements.Abnormal is a general term of the beginning of the 20th century that has been used in a range of ways to refer to, amongst other things, people with mental health or physical disabilities, LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC.
Image from the paper «Eye in the Sky Real-time Drone Surveillance System
(DSS) for Violent Individuals»
Lagrangian Method used to extract spatial information from 2D CCTV cameras
8 frames sequences of a gesture considered as a violent movement.
Excerpts page of the book «Modular» in which LeCorbusier developed an anthropometric scale of proportions. It was developed as a visual bridge between two incompatible scales, the Imperial and the metric systems. It is based on the height of a man with his arm raised. The man’s height is 6’’ or 183cm. Which is also my own height.
Buer is a spirit that appears in the 16th-century grimoire Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and its derivatives. They teaches natural and moral philosophy, logic, and the virtues of all herbs and plants, and is also capable of healing all infirmities (especially of men).
Photogrammetry scan / first methode of comparison. Too much glitch
Comparison between photography of myself and an avatar made in the 3d software called «MakeHuman» which predicts your physical traits based on your body measurements.
Sequence of movement recorded with a motion capture device. The performance is using breathing methode to bring angry/distorsted fast and unpredicable gestures, which can be potentially linked to the detection of a violent behaviour in surveillance technology.
Sequence of movement recorded with a motion capture device. Movement close to a butoh or the peacock spider mating dance + crossdressing in order to test the accurancy of the AI to track the movement.
last update 06/01/2021