Virtualizing bodies in transformative platforms of corporeality : Embodied visualisation over flesh boundaries

Abstract

When conceiving of the virtuality of a body, we are often confronted with the complexity of ascribing to it the material and distinctive characteristics that we recognise to the present flesh. Yet, in the contemporary context, there exists a field of experimentation that retains a corporeality even in the virtual realm. This is not the corporeality of a lacerated or impaired body, but rather the digital incarnation of a vital organism. The present contribution aims to explore the possibilities of such declinations in the field of visual arts and design practices in order to thematise the potential of bodily extensions that take on the status of propagation of flesh in the virtual sphere. Furthermore, the research intends to analyse the forms in which the discourse around the corporeal is handled in its visual representations, where its status of presence is manipulated, where it is made accessible.