Synopsis
ORLAN is a French performance artist whose work is increasingly becoming the focus of attention for contemporary debates concerning the body, technology and art. Although her work dates back to the Seventies, it was only when she began her operation/performances that she received widespread critical attention. These works use her own body as the subject of gruesome aesthetic surgery, whereby her facial features are operated on and changed in accordance with ideals of feminine beauty appropriated from the history of art. With provocative visual images, This is my body... This is my software documents ORLAN's recent performances as well as providing an account of her earlier work. The book also includes an new introduction by accalimed film director David Cronenberg and essays by Sarah Wilson and Sandy Stone, among others.