Bodies and Digital Utopia

Abstract

Our current relation to physical and social bodies betrays a deep uneasiness in our society, engendered by altered definitions of physical identity and increasing mediacentric behavior. Obsessive violence, the notion of invincibility, and recurring themes of the survival of the fittest in film and television combine with sensationalistic news reports of genetic progress and manipulation of human longevity, health, appearance, and reproduction to foster the concept of disposable bodies and physical reality. Cloning is an established fact; genetic engineering has become the stuff of newspaper headlines.

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Catherine Bernard

Catherine Bernard is Assistant Professor of Art History and Gallery Director at State University of New York at Old Westbury. Her articles have been published in various magazines, including Nka: Journal of Contemporary African Art and Parkett.