Cyborg art, also known as cyborgism, is an art movement that began in the mid-2000s in Britain.  It is based on the creation and addition of new senses to the body via cybernetic implants and the creation of art works through new senses.  Among the early cyborg artists are Neil Harbisson, whose antenna implant allows him to perceive ultraviolet and infrared colours, and Moon Ribas whose implants in her feet allow her to feel earthquakes and moonquakes.

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In an interview with Harbison, he believes humans have a duty to use technology to transcend our senses. "Becoming a cyborg isn't just a life decision," he explains. "It's an artistic statement – I'm treating my own body and brain as a sculpture" (Jeffries, The Guardian).

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Harbisson's original "eyeborg" – devised a decade ago by Plymouth University cybernetics expert Adam Montandon – required him to wear headphones connected to a laptop. Subsequent operations allowed him to ditch all this, as a vibrating chip was placed first against, then inside his skull. In the process, he became the world's first cyborg artist (ibid.).

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As a cyborg, it raises questions on his identity. Harbisson had to fight for cyborg rights and deal with the UK Passport Authority, which finally agreed his passport photo showing him with the antennas as he argued that it was not a piece of technology but part of his body.

 

Works and images cited:

 “Interview: Neil Harbisson: the world’s first cyborg artist.”  Jeffries, Stuart, The Guardian, 6 May 2014, 

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/06/neil-harbisson-worlds-first-cyborg-artist.

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"Cyborg Performance Art.” YouTube, uploaded by Creators, 8 Feb 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NJMkpSRG6s.