LEONARDO GALLERY: Perverting Technological Correctness

	      Laura K I K A U K A


				Laura Kikauka, Hairbrain 2000
				(seen here with optional Cyborg-Gone-
				Rong costume), life-sized metal harness, 
				colander, electric circuit triggered by 
				ball-bearings, 48 electromagnets, battery 
				pack, 1993. (Photo: Gordon Monahan) 


				


				The Hairbrain 2000 "helmet" consists of 
				a welding mask with a viewing compartment 
				mounted directly in front of the eyes. Inside 
				this compartment, fuzzy ball-bearings roll 
				on top of a self-etched electrical circuit. 
				When the participant moves his or her head, 
				the bearings make contact with the circuit 
				etchings, producing sparks and triggering 
				48 electromechanical relays. The relays 
				produce clunky clicking sounds controlled 
				by the participantÍs head movement. Sometimes 
				technology takes on an extreme form of the 
				absurd---in this context, virtual reality is 
				more like ritual virility. 

				(Laura Kikauka, Funny Farm East, 
				Gethsemanestr. 8, 10437 Berlin, Germany)


				For more images by Laura Kikauka, 
				see the print journal 
				L E O N A R D O 
				Vol. 29, No. 1 (1996),
				available from the MIT Press 
				(journals-orders@mit.edu). 

A R T I S T S