AMTheroy #5: Cyborgs, Synesthesia, and Semiotics

What: Cyborgs, Synesthesia and Semiotics: technological interfaces and implants on the human body
When: Thursday, November 6, 11:00 am to 12:00 pm
Where: Parsons Paris, 45 rue Saint-Roch, 75001, room 102
Who: Elwyn Crawford, MFA DT

There is a rich origin of the cyborg in literature and film, from the 19th century to the present, in which these part mechanistic, part human creatures with enhanced capabilities are viewed from grotesque, cautionary, moral perspectives. None-the-less, given the extent to which we cannot say no to technology, the cyborg is becoming a social faction in the 21st century. Beyond an unemotional, antithetical relationship to humanness, we will examine actual and hypothetical implants and prosthetics that enhance human instincts and alter perception profoundly.

The presentation and discussion focus on how designers and artists are redefining our understanding and perception of cyborgs and human evolution. In augmenting capabilities of subtle senses and transforming space-time experience, we consider the reality, virtual and actual, that new artifacts merging tech-human relations signify. Framed by semiotics, biosemiotics and cybernetics, contemporary visions in cyborg technology sensually communicate and translate our creative zeitgeist.

Open to all Parsons Paris students, faculty, and staff.

Elwyn Crawford is a practical intellectual based in Paris, France. She founded the ethical millinery label O’Lover Hats, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and is currently developing scholarship and prototypes for bio-interactive wearable technology at Parsons Paris.