The Technology and the Performing Body in the Arts of Contemporary Societies

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role of the body in the Contemporary Performance Art. Considering that there are many cases in which Art reproduces social, cultural and sometimes political realities, we identify types of messages that an artwork using advanced technological might transmit to us, spectators or artists. Our focus point is the Cyborg Theatre, a form of performance in which the use of advanced technological means is an inherent element without which the performance could not happen. Such a technological performance cannot occur without a body. At this point we are talking about a cyborg body as a human organism extended with mechanical parts, which integrates non organic components in order to gain meaning within the artwork. By concentrating on such a performance, we witness a relationship between the performer and the spectator, an unfamiliar communication, which deserves our attention. We claim that both the performer and the spectator take part in a social event that does not only represents societal realities, but also indicates future ones.