Hacking the Body – Prosthetics

The word “prosthetics” indicates an addition or extension and the term has been included in medical terminology in the 16th Century. Three centuries later, Marshall McLuhan wrote in his seminal book Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (first published in 1964): “Today, when we have extended all parts of our bodies and senses by technology we are haunted by the need for an outer consensus of technology and experience that would raise our communal lives to the level of a world-wide consensus.”

McLuhan also argued that ‘any medium whatever is an extension, a projection in space or in time, of our various senses. He postulated that while earlier technologies extended one part of the body (for instance the wheel extending the foot), the new electronic technologies extended the whole nervous system.

December 7, 2011 – October 5,  2013

Workshops with Adriane Ieraci
Toronto, Montreal, Canada; Prague Czech Republic; Manizales, Colombia; Zagreb, Croatia

Presentations

October 6, 2013
Extravagant Bodies – Extravagant Age Festival, Zagreb, Croatia
The Extension of Men: Hacking the Body – Prosthetics – Symposium presentation

April 18, 2013
12th Festival de la Imagen, Manizales, Colombia
SPLICE: At the Intersection of Art and Medicine – Prosthetics – Symposium presentation

April 6, 2013
Catch Forum – Enter 6 – Biopolis, Prague, Czech Republic
The Extension of Men: Hacking the Body – Prosthetics – Symposium presentation

Workshops

October 5, 2013
Extravagant Bodies- Extravagant Age, Zagreb, Croatia The Extension of Men – DIY Prosthetics – Hacking the Body – Environmental Sensing in collaboration with Radiona org & I’MM Media Lab Zagreb. Presenters: Nina Czegledy, On skype: Prof Ronald Baecker, University of Toronto, Erika Biddle-Stavrakos, York University

April 16, 2013
12th Festival de la Imagen, Mazinales, Colombia The Extension of Men – DIY Prosthetics – Hacking the Body – Environmental Sensing with Adriana Ieraci and Antonio Gamba-Bari

November 3, 2012
co-located workshop: Semaphore, KMDI, University of Toronto, Hexagram, Concordia University, Montreal. Facilitators: Andrea Ieraci- Toronto, Nina Czegledy – Montreal. Semaphore Lab: Isaac Record, Gaby Resch. Hexagram Coordination and Support: Ricardo del Farra, Momoko Allard, Elio Bidinosy

March 10, 2012
ThingTank Lab, University of Toronto The Extension of Men – Hacking the Body, Prosthetics (Part #2 workshop) Hosts: Nina Czegledy and Adriana Ieraci supported by Liv Koren and Valentin K. Presenters Irene Healy, founding director New Attitude, Custom made breast prothesises and Erika Biddle Stavrakos, York University

December 7, 2011
ThingTank Lab, University of Toronto The Extension of Men – Hacking the Body, Prosthetics (Part #1 workshop) Hosts: Nina Czegledy and Adriana Ieraci supported by Liv Koren and Valentin K. Presenters Shannon Bell, York University and Erika Biddle-Stavrakos, York University