Neil Harbisson (born 1982) is a Catalan-raised[15] British-Irish-American[16]cyborg artist and cyborg rights advocate who has been widely portrayed as the world's first cyborg.[17][18] International attention grew after he received permission to appear in his UK passport photo with an antenna implanted in his skull, a device he considers a new sensory organ.[19] His artistic and activist work centres on expanded perception and the rights of people with technologically extended bodies.[20]
Since 2004, Harbisson has used his antenna to perceive colour—including infrared and ultraviolet—through audible vibrations transmitted via bone conduction.[21] The device can also receive images, colour data, and signals from external sources, including the internet.[22]
In 2010, he co-founded the Cyborg Foundation, an organisation dedicated to defending cyborg rights, supporting people seeking to extend their senses, and promoting cyborg art.[23][24] In 2017, he co-founded the Transpecies Society, which advocates for self-design and recognition of individuals with non-human identities or sensory systems.[1]
Early life
Harbisson was born to a Spanish mother and a Northern Irish father.[25] He was born with achromat vision.[26] Raised in Barcelona where he studied piano and began composing at the age of 11.[27][28] During his secondary studies he obtained permission to complete all visual coursework in black and white.[29][30][31]
As a teenager, he became involved in environmental activism,[32] notably participating in a tree-protection campaign that drew significant community support.[33][34] At the age of 19, he moved to England to study composition at Dartington College of Arts.[35]
Works
Harbisson describes his practice as cyborg art, a discipline focused on creating and integrating new senses and organs into the human body.[36] He refers to this approach as perceptionism, emphasising the design of new perceptual systems rather than external objects.[37] Within this framework, the artist, artwork, medium, and audience merge; the sensory extension itself is considered the artwork, and the artist’s lived experience constitutes the creative act.[38]
Cyborg Antenna
Harbisson’s antenna is a permanently implanted sensory device extending from the back of his head.[39] Originally developed in 2003 with Adam Montandon[40] and later refined by Peter Kese and Matias Lizana, the antenna transposes colour frequencies into vibrations transmitted through the skull. [41] It detects visible and non-visible colours, and it can connect to external devices or satellites to receive additional signals.[42][18]
After several ethics committees rejected the procedure, the implant surgery was performed anonymously.[43] Harbisson has allowed selected individuals around the world to transmit colours and images directly to his head; he has stated that these inputs can influence his dreams.[44] The first public demonstration of a skull-transmitted image was broadcast live on Al Jazeera's chat show The Stream.[45] The first person to make a phone call directly into his skull was Ruby Wax.[46]
In 2014 he created what was described as the first “skull-transmitted painting,” receiving live colour signals from Times Square and accurately reproducing them on canvas before an audience at The Red Door, ten blocks away.[48][49]
Sense of Time: Solar Crown
The Solar Crown is a sensory device for the sense of time. A rotating point of heat takes 24 hours to slowly orbit around Harbisson's head.[50] When he feels the point of heat in the middle of his forehead it is midday solar time in London (longitude 0°), when the heat reaches his right ear it is midday in New Orleans (longitude 90°).[51] When his brain gets accustomed to the passage of time on his head, he will explore if he can modify his perception of time by altering the speed of rotation.[52] Harbisson states that in the same way we can create optical illusions because we have eyes for the sense of sight, we should be able to create time illusions if we have an organ for the sense of time.[53] If time illusions work, he will then be able to stretch or control his perception of time, age, and time travel.[54]
Transdental Communication System: BlueTOOTH (Bluetooth Tooth)
The transdental communication system is composed of two teeth, each containing a bluetooth enabled button and a mini vibrator.[55] Whenever the button is pressed it sends a vibration to the other person's tooth.[56] One tooth was installed in Harbisson's mouth and the other tooth in Moon Ribas's mouth. Both Harbisson and Ribas know how to communicate in morse code, therefore they are able to communicate from tooth to tooth.[57] The first demonstration of the system was presented in São Paulo.[58]
Performances and exhibitions
Sonochromatic Records exhibited at Pioneer Works, New York (2014)
Harbisson's artwork has been ranked together with the works of Yoko Ono and Marina Abramović as one of the 10 most shocking art performances ever.[59] His work is focused on the creation of new senses and the creation of external artworks through these new senses.[60]
Harbisson's "Colour Scores"[83] are a series of paintings based on the transposition of sounds, music or voices into colour.[84]
In 2009, Harbisson published the Human Colour Wheel based on the hue and light detected on hundreds of human skins from 2004 to 2009.[85] The aim of the study was to state that humans are not black or white, but are different shades of orange - from very dark orange to very light orange.[86]
Under the title Capital Colours,[87][88] Harbisson has exhibited the dominant colours of different cities he has visited.[89][90] He scans the colours of each city until he is able to represent it with at least two hues.[91][92]
Media
Harbisson has contributed significantly to the public awareness of cyborgs, transpecies, artificial senses, and human evolution by giving regular public lectures at universities, conferences and LAN parties sometimes to audiences of thousands.[93] He has taken part in science, music, fashion, and art festivals[94] such as the British Science Festival,[95]TEDGlobal,[96]London Fashion Week,[97] and Sónar[98] among others.[99] He has become a trending topic on Twitter[100] in several occasions.[101][102][103] In 2013, a short film about Neil Harbisson[104] won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival's Focus Forward Filmmakers Competition.[105] Since 2014, a short fictional film about Harbisson's life is being filmed.[106][107] In 2015, Hearing Colors, a black and white documentary about Harbisson in New York became a Vimeo "Staff Pick" and became the winner of New York's Tribeca Film Festival X Award in 2016.
In 2004, Harbisson's British passport renewal was rejected. The UK Passport Office would not allow him to appear with an electronic device on his head. Harbisson wrote back explaining that he identified as a cyborg and that his antenna should be treated as an organ, not a device. After weeks of correspondence, Harbisson's photo was accepted.[126][85]
In 2011, during a demonstration in Barcelona, Harbisson's antenna was damaged by police who believed they were being filmed.[127][128] Harbisson filed a complaint of physical aggression, not as damage to personal property, as he considers the antenna to be a body part.[129][failed verification]
Collaborations
2013 talk from Harbisson and Moon Ribas: Life with extra Senses - How to become a Cyborg
Harbisson has collaborated extensively with his childhood friend and cyborg artist Moon Ribas in performances[130][131] and art projects.[132] His first performances as a cyborg were at Dartington College of Arts, using pianos[133] and collaborating with other students.[134] He has performed with artist Pau Riba with whom he shared the same interest in cyborgs.[135] They first performed in Barcelona followed by other performances.[136][137] One of their projects is Avigram.[138]
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