Living With Your Own Ideas¶
To Become the Best Version of Yourself¶
Tele-Sensory Gloves are two pairs of gloves where you can sense with one and touch with outher. Best version of myself has a soft cat that calms me down when i touch. Therefore this tele-sensory gloves help me become a better silakara.
You can click here if you can’t view the video.
To Become Something Else¶
Mer-goggles is an amphibious prosthesis that helps you see and be underwater. It also enables you to see the underwater vision when you’re on land. This way you can become a mermaid both on land and underwater.
A Representative video;
You can click here if you can’t view the video.
Here are some other references;
- Study Testing a Novel 3D Printed Amphibious Lower Limb Prosthesis
- The First Artificial Vision System for Both Land and Water
The Detective Game¶
The Subject¶
While I was the subject; i stayed in the class for couple minutes and then fleed! I had an eye on my back, giving the idea of my detective that I, myself, am not only the subject but also an observant of the detective. I run across the street and towards the beach, hoping to make my detective run with me. After I realized my detective was not with me and ran for around 5-10 minutes, I came back to the class.
The Detective¶
While I was the detective, I followed my subject through a park. First I was obvious, after the first 10 minutes I decided to become more descreet. I kept following my subject, she knew who I was but she didn’t know where I was watching her from. I believe this added an unsettling feeling to my subject, knowing that you are watched but you’re not sure where the watcher is.
Here is my report as an detective;
You can download the report here if you can’t see the presentation; sila-the-detective.pdf
The Reflection¶
If I were to explain the course briefly with some keywords, I’d say eye-opening and fascinating. Going beyond the actual definitions of prosthesis is mind-altering since it makes you to udnerstand the possibilities and other imaginable futures. Before the course I would only consider a person might use a prosthesis because they lack a limb, like a leg or a hand. What I have not considered so far was the other possible limb we might create for ourselves. From this perspective, we can alter our own senses and bodies according to our wants and needs. Thinking from this point of view, this is not a far idea, we already alter our bodies with tattoos, jeweleries, clothes. Our phones already became a limb for most of us!
During the course, exploring the idea of a prosthesis to become better, and to become something else; I tried to pushed myself further. Seeing the guest lecturers and other artists approach to the concept made me realize that I am not even pushing myself enough. Thomas Thwaites’ obsession and dedication to become a goat was mind-blowing. He integrated multiple prosthesis to become a goat, to live with other goats and finally felt more human than ever.
This course was also an introduction to the cyborg-art for me. Initially it looked like adding a technological device to the body but I believe it’s more about questioning what our bodies are allowed to be, both technically and sociologically. When we read about technological advancements, having a high-tech device; we are mostly thinking about taking a relatively better photos or doing a daily chore easier. What we don’t really consider is what we actually want to do with technology and how we can achieve that. This mindset makes all of us “same”, keeping us to become a better version of ourselves but only using what we are given without questioning.
What I initially thought about a prosthesis radically shifted after this 3-day course from “fixing a lack” to exploring what ourselves are allowed to be. I will keep exploring the idea and use this concept as a tool to expose limits of myself, and emphaty.