Image 6
Category: BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR
Topic: 4. From Artificial Limbs to Virtual Reality: How the Brain Represents the Body

Simulacra

Medium: Acrylic on Cradled Birch
Year Produced: 2010
Dimensions in inches (H x W): 18" x 26"

Simulacra was inspired by a discussion I had with a friend and biomedical engineer about the disassociation from nature that can result from an over-reliance on technology.  It evolved into a meditation on the nature of reality and what we perceive as real. The central figure is engineering the biomechanical animals around him, creating his own world from metal, wire, and ultimately ones and zeros.  A simulacrum is only a representation of something real, but at what point does an imitation of life become more than a pale reflection, especially in a world where fledgling artificial intelligences are joining chat rooms, artificial limbs can be controlled with the mind, and the brain responds to virtual reality stimuli the same way it responds to reality.