Webliography

‘Why should our bodies end at the skin?’ asks Donna Haraway. Discuss the idea of skin in relation to how we might imagine our future embodiment.

In answering this question I would choose to focus on the role skin plays in developing ideas of embodiment and identity, and how these ideas are currently changing due to ever advancing technology that surrounds us. I would look at the links between technology and the body, in particular focussing on how the relationship between the two is becoming increasingly dependent. In addition to this the articles I have chosen also refer to the role of skin in establishing identity and ideas of embodiment in infancy, in addition to a feminist approach to the subject. All of the articles chosen have been written and/or published in the past 7 years therefore providing relevant and up to date information, ideas and theories.

Schick, Lea & Malmborg, Lone, “Bodies, embodiment and ubiquitous computing”>http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=1462-6268&volume=21&issue=1&spage=63> 26th May 2010, date accessed 1^st September 2010

This is an online journal article, published online in 2010. The article was published in Denmark, which may have some impact on the content and also the ideas and theories discussed, in recent years Denmark has established itself as a frontrunner in the information and communication field. The article intends to shows the developing relationship between the body, skin and technology and how all these effect ideas of embodiment.

The paper advocates the future of the body as a distributed and shared embodiment; an unfolded body that doesn’t end at ones skin, but emerges between bodies and the technological environment. The paper claims that in an era of new technologies, the subject is beginning to fear the ‘loss’ of the body, however Schick and Malmborg claim that there is no danger of the body ‘disappearing’. The paper then goes on to explain the recent invention of ‘Sk-interface’, and its role in developing biometric sensor technologies, also what impact this will have on future embodiment is briefly mentioned. The article gives an in depth explanation of the technical side of “Sk-interface” however less attention is given to the theories behind the invention and the social impact it may have. Schick and Malmborg link embodiment with the ever-present technology and show on a more practical level how skin can play a part in enhancing technology and subsequently how that will change how we view and define embodiment.

LaFrance, Marc “Skin and the Self: Cultural Theory and Anglo-American Psychoanalysis”<http://bod.sagepub.com.ezproxy.library.uwa.edu.au/content/15/3/25.full.pdf+html> September 2009, date accessed 1^st September 2010

The article focuses on two psychoanalytic theorists how have become increasingly interested in the skins surface, and additionally how the skin plays a vital role in establishing ones identity and ideas of embodiment in infancy. The article addresses questions regarding the skins role as a boundary and container and also how it becomes a vital enabler of the minds parts and processes. LaFrance gives an insight into the origins of identity and shows the importance of skin at a vital stage in life.

LaFrance uses the work of Esther Bick to illustrate the idea that a human being doesn’t come with a ‘ready-made ego, instead the ego must be brought into being’, this is achieved using the skin and its ability to provide a secure and ongoing experience of containment. The environment around a child during infancy shapes development of self and embodiment, as this environment changes and develops so will the ideas of what embodiment is and involves. Bick also uses the term ‘mental skin’, this refers to the internal boundaries that are established and utilized when developing personality structures, again adding to the creation of a child’s sense of self.

The second theorist mentioned in the article by LaFrance is Thomas Ogden. For Ogden, the infant’s bodily surface is the birthplace of the self for it is on and along this surface that the infant has the most formative and fundamental experiences of the world around it.

A major criticism of Bick’s work is the failure to acknowledge or explain how the ideas of embodiment first established may change and develop through each individual’s life. Similarly Ogden mentions the continuous process of creation of self, however this idea is not expanded or explored any further.

Sakr, Laila “Virtual Embodiment” <http://lailashereen.com> March 2008, date accessed 1^st September 2010

(To access this article click the option “Publications” at the top of the website homepage, following this, under the sub-title “Working papers” the article “Virtual Embodiment" can be found)

I acknowledge that the article in question has not been published and therefore is not a scholarly source however Sakr is a published author and I believe this demonstrates the authenticity and accuracy of the article and its content.

Sakr claims “the body as a physical and cultural entity, is under constant negotiation in contemporary technologically-informed art practices”. The progression of contemporary technology has altered the physical unity of the body by causing displacement; it is now possible to be in multiple places at once. Sakr discusses the ever-shifting boundaries that cause us to continuously negotiate the status of our body, and questions the necessity of skin and a physical body in developing identity and self. The author also explores the “virtual” and the “actual” claiming that the virtual is not actual however is possesses a reality, this occurs through interaction between human and technology. Sakr argues that embodiment is not located in the body; it is produced by bodies however it remains separate from them. Therefore, if embodiment is not an internal state then a physical body is not a necessary requirement when referring to embodiment. New media determines an alternate form of embodiment and anatomy for both the body image and the spectator who encounters the image.

Shaw, Rhonda “Our bodies, Ourselves', Technology, and Questions of Ethics: Cyberfeminism and the Lived Body” <http://www.informaworld.com/openurl?genre=article&issn=0816-4649&volume=18&issue=40&spage=45> March 2003, date accessed 1^st September 2010

The article was written and published in 2003, there has been substantial advancement in the technology over recent years and this should be taken into consideration when analyzing the ideas presented.

This article explores the ideas of third wave feminism, predominantly focusing on the ethical and political implications of cybertechnologies and cyberculture. Shaw defines a cyborg as “a body which crosses the boundary between human and machine”. The article claims that the progression in the relationship between machine and human is liberating rather then threatening to humanity, “we are seeing not the end of the body but rather the end of one kind of body and the beginning of a new one”. The issue of gender differences is highlighted suggesting that men and women relate to the technological spaces of information in distinctive ways, however the author does not proceed to explain the implications of this issue.

The article consists predominantly of references to other published work, it provides a concise summary and analysis, however Shaw goes little way to suggesting any new ideas.

Meijsing, Monica “Real people and Vitual Bodies: How disembodied can embodiment be?” <http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00003031/01/REAL_PEOPLE_AND_VIRTUAL_BODIES.preprint.doc>8^th December 2006, date accessed 1^st September 2010

Monica Meijsing addresses the question of whether, with all the new and emerging technology, a body with skin is necessary when creating ideas and feelings of embodiment. Meijsing makes reference to phantom limbs, she claims that many people who loose limbs still feel like they are present, this correlates with the idea that when we move into the virtual, technological world, although our physical body is absent, the brain’s innate capabilities mean that real limbs are not needed to experience agency and ownership over the body. The article mentions that there are many important social implications of having a virtual body, however, much like the other articles these are again not explored.

By Jessica France