Stelarc

Stelarc (born Stelios Arcadiou in Limassol, June 19th, 1946, but legally changed his name in 1972) is a Cyprus-born performance artist raised in the Melbourne (Australia), whose works focuses heavily on extending the capabilities of the human body, centered on his concept that the human body is obsolete. Stelarc is an artist who performs with prosthetics and robotics. His projects include Third Hand (EMG actuated), Exoskeleton (6 legged locomotion), Extended Arm (11 degree of freedom manipulator), Prosthetic Head (embodied conversational agent) and Ear On Arm (surgically constructed and stem-cell grown that will be internet enabled). In 1996 he was Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in 2002 was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Monash University, Melbourne. In 2010 he received a Special Projects grant, Australia Council and he was also awarded the prestigious Ars Electronica Hybrid Arts Prize. He is presently Distinguished Research Fellow and Director of the Alternate Anatomies Lab, School of Design and Art (SODA), Curtin University, Perth.