Jane Jung

B IMD Studio Elements 3

Project Proposal
Project concept 1:

This performance requires me to have a flex sensor taped to my elbow. Whenever I bend my arm
or wave, the motor will run and the laptop screen will flash we are cyborgs.
"By making a machine think like a man, man re-creates himself, defines himself, as a machine"
(Dixon 331). Dixon states this in Digital Performance to signal the humanization of machines
and machinization of humans. We depend so much on technology that it has become a part of us.
This relates to Donna Haraways famous line, we are cyborgs in her manifesto. This
performance shows how humans can be easily hooked up to technology. The we are cyborgs
message displayed on the screen will cause people to think about how machines and humans
have become closely connected.
The site of the performance will be on campus in the space in front of Discovery Hall. College
students are one of the largest demographics of technology users. Viewing this performance will
intrigue them and spark curiosity on how we are cyborgs.

Project concept 2:

This performance is similar to the first concept, but the motor will have a piece of paper on it that
will spin around as the motor spins. The motor will spin when I bend my arm or wave. The
message will be we are technology or something related to how our bodies have collided with
technology.
A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social
reality, as well as a creature of fiction (Haraway 291). Cyborgs are a hybrid of machine and
organism which is what we are when we are hooked up to machines. Machines are becoming
more life like according to Haraway. This performance is related to this idea because by moving
my arm, I am making the motor run which is making the paper with the message spin around. Its
an interesting connection to see how the body movements we make can make a machine move.
In a way, it can be connected to Dixons saying that we are becoming the media ourselves.
The site of the performance will be the same as the first concept.

Project Concept 3:

This performance will represent biometrics and the Fitbit. I will be hooked up to the heart rate
sensor and while I am walking in place, my rate will appear on the laptop screen.
Data plays a central role in both medicine and insurance creating new challenges (Rosenblat
1). Data is always tracking us and creating new challenges especially in the medicine world. An
example that we discussed in class and in our readings is the Fitbit. Health tracking devices like
the Fitbit are using our data wrongfully as if we are selling our bodies to corporations. This
performance will show how everything we do can be tracked and used against us.
The site of the performance will be on campus in front of Discovery Hall. This way, students will
be intrigued as they are walking across to get to their class. My generation is dependent on
technology and Fitbits are really common amongst college students. Another possible site is the
top floor of the Arc. Students are always sitting here at tables doing their homework. If I am
doing my performance here and walking in place, they will be curious and start to wonder what I
am doing.

Works Cited
Dixon, Steve, and Barry Smith. Digital Performance. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT
Press, 2007. 209-332. Print.
Haraway, Donna. A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the
Late Twentieth Century. Theorizing Feminism: Parallel Trends in the Humanities and Social
Sciences. Ed. Anne C. Hermann and Abigail J. Stewart. Boulder: Westview Press, 1994. 424-57.
Print.
Rosenblat, Alex. Data & Civil Rights: Health Primer. N.p., 2015. Web. 6 Apr. 2016.