What Is under the Harlequin Coat? Cover Image

Co skrywa płaszcz Arlekina?
What Is under the Harlequin Coat?

Author(s): Aleksandra Spilkowska
Subject(s): Fine Arts / Performing Arts
Published by: Instytut im. Jerzego Grotowskiego
Keywords: bio art;post-humanism;essay;ORLAN;

Summary/Abstract: In this analysis of the Harlequin Coat project of 2008 by ORLAN, an artist working in bio art, Aleksanda Spilkowska attempts to recapitulate her activities to date, and to situate her in the sphere of post-humanist art. The artist treats her body as a “modifiedready-made-object,” stressing the fluidity of identity. In Harlequin Coat, ORLAN investigates the potential for modifying DNA and cell structure through manipulating human and animal fabrics. Spilkowska states that the artist casts doubt upon all anthropocentrism and problematizes the “fetishization of DNA” that results from separating the human identity from the material of his/her body.

  • Issue Year: 2015
  • Issue No: 130
  • Page Range: 35-41
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: Polish