cyborg

Pistorius, the disabled athlete that won several run contests with a futuristic artificial leg, and that was disqualified by the judges, represents the first example of a cyborg, apart from a few experimental cases. This artificial leg was supplied to a disabled athlete, but what if in the near future an athlete wants to change his flesh and bone leg with a carbon fiber leg in order to run faster and outcompete “natural” athletes? The judges of the sport contest tried to resist this possible cyber-future, but their resistance was fruitless, because the public opinion strongly supported Pistorius. Ist this racer is the avant-garde of an army of cyborgs, running faster than any not-manipulated man, capable of impossible performances? If the answer is yes, the performance of Pistorius would strangely look like the performances of many contemporary artists, and in particular those artist that promoted a politically involved art and art as a way to change society. Better, the performance of Pistorius is a wonderful piece of contemporary art.