Critical Correspondence

MRPJ#20/Technology and the Body, Millenial Issue: Extras

Rather than the hardware prosthesis of a mechanical hand, the Extra Ear would be a soft augmentation, mimicking the actual ear in shape and structure, but having different functions. Imagine an ear that cannot hear but rather can emit noises. Implanted with a sound chip and a proximity sensor, the ear would speak to anyone who would get close to it. Perhaps, the ultimate aim would be for the Extra Ear to whisper sweet nothings to the other ear. Or imagine the Extra Ear as an internet antennae able to amplify RealAudio sounds to augment the local sounds heard by the actual ears. The Extra Ear would be a prosthesis made from its own skin. Why an ear? An ear is a beautiful and complex structure. In acupuncture, the ear is the site for the stimulation of body organs. It not only hears but is also the organ of the balance. To have an extra ear points to more than visual and anatomical excess…

— from “The Morphing of the Body” by Stelarc

Dear S:

How can I write to you on this damn system? There is no privacy; it breaks down; it’s awful. I feel you fading away now…This is the G-rated version of what I would most like to write to you if I knew how to write to you: the screen, the sheath, the lubricant, safe sex. The risk and the truth. The risk of truth. The dignity of time, of space, for responsiveness. I want you deeply. But it takes me a long time. Maybe this is all deferral, the delay woven into every letter, every love. I want you to write me, to kiss me, languorously. Let the screen be a window, a blank canvas: paint me lipstick scenes, words from your tongue. Your hands getting wet when you type, rock me in the pulse of electronic impulses. Feed me, love me, e-me, f-me with your words, your stories, your poems, your news, your histories, your songs.

I am your lovingly devoted reader, W.

— from “Love Letters in the Future Tense” by Peggy Phalen