Output details

Ear on arm

Performance art

‘Ear on Arm’ is amplified as a research concept through technology investigating qualities of scale, presence and materiality. Its key research questions are, how can spaces of communication and collaboration be navigated and within a technical terrain and what are the implications and consequences of performing with a physical body?

This research project was driven by a desire to engineer an additional ear that could interact in various ways with the performer’s existing ears and at the same time place the ear as a performance piece within different contexts and environments. The project over a number of years has unfolded and developed. The ‘Extra Ear’ was first imaged as an ear on the side of the head. The ‘Quarter Scale Ear’ involved growing small replicas of Stelarc’s ear using living cells. And recently, The ‘Ear On Arm’ began the surgical construction of a full-sized ear on the artist’s forearm, one that would transmit the sounds it hears. Recent installations and performances are iterations that continue to explore, amplify and elaborate the original idea, researching issues of extended interactive systems, performing and playing with varying scales and complexities, and inserting and restating the physical presence of the body.

The work has three main installations and performance:

a) Internet Ear – ‘Biotopia: Art in The West Zone’ Aalborg, Paris Moscow (2011).

b) Ear on Arm Ear Installation and Performance – Lorne Sculpture Biennale, Australia (2011).

c) Ear on Arm Suspension – Scott Livesey Galleries (2012).

d)

In 2010 Ear on Arm project was award the golden NIka Prix Arts electronic prize from over 400 entries in the category of hybrid arts. The ‘Ear on Arm’ project has been studied globally within academic institutions and virtual futures conferences and institutes.