Seite 3: The Consumer Body

Of course much of this vision is as unachievable (at present) as was the myth of perfectible health which gave modern medicine it s status. But even if a vision is only partially realisable, it can still be influential. Moreover, the postmodern vision of the body is not altogether an impossible goal. Possibilities for technological transformation, explored in film, are now entering the world.

The human/machine boundary blurs as human beings enter the machine space of Virtual Reality (VR). Or, perhaps it is machine space that enters the human body, enhancing the flesh. We can explore a body and a world both designed to our own specifications. Terminal identity is both the end of the subject and a new subjectivity constructed at the computer station or television screen.

In bodymapping a personŽs body is electronically stored and can be reconstituted and manipulated as a 3D image which faithfully represents them. An actor wearing a DataSuit brings the image to life and controls it s every movement and gesture. A bodymapped public figure, whether alive or dead, could appear in interactive VR, portrayed in a variety of situations. Bodymapping has potential for gender swapping and the adoption of different guises. We need not be restricted to watching a film about the Kennedy assassination but we can be the "real" Oswald, Jackie Kennedy...

Body sensors an teledildonics have the potential for ever more impersonal forms of interaction. The Lawnmower Man included a cybersex sequence of the actorsŽ virtual selves. VR sex will certainly be the safest form of safe sex and The Joy Of Cybersex has already been published.

Consumer medicine also offers considerable scope and consumer culture encourages the perception of the body as plastic, capable of being moulded into any desires appearance. Postmodern desire has replaced the dream of progress.

We already have body contouring, discrete implant technology, skin peels, tissue freezing, liposuction, phallo-plasty, and silicone muscle and breast implants. The complete face transplant has been mooted. The designer body business is big business, estimated at $ 400 million per year in the US and growing. The plastic surgeon, Dr. Forshan, concludes his "glitzy" TV ads with the slogan Body by Forshan.

From being the object of scientific regulation, the body has become the site of style in a fusing of the real and the theatricalised simulacrum. The body can be produced as a consumer good, manufactured in accordance with stylistic demand through body building and contouring. Brigitte NielsonŽs statuesque body has been carefully sculpted an Michael JacksonŽs face fleshes out desirable style.

Similarly, the technological transformation of the body, including the brain, and it s prosthetic extension, is not just William Gibson fantasy but is coming within reach. Stelarc performs with a prosthetic third hand operated directly form nerve impulses.

Technology is irreversibly transforming human possibilities, fusing flesh with electronics. Research on implanting silicon chips in the brain to improve faltering memories, and the production of artificial organs, including placenta and uterus, are likely to yield results by the next millennium. Implanted chips to provide artificial vision have already been tried and audio signals have been inserted directly into the auditory nerve. But such complex technologies, requiring large financial investment, will be controlled and marketed by the patent holders, making the new flesh a preserve of the luxury market.