Following on from Birth Sleeves? in October 2022, the ‘New Editions’ build on the trans-humanist idea that one day we will be able to upload our human consciousness into a device which can then be relocated into a new body, whether naturally born, modified or artificially created.
Taken from Richard Morgan’s Altered Carbon, ‘sleeves’ are the term used for bodies that serve as a receptacle for the human consciousness. The body an individual is born with is called their Birth Sleeve. In the creation of this new exhibition, Armour has been influenced by Mark Jarzombek, Professor of the history and theory of architecture MIT, who said:
What develops over time is something like an ontological crust, a place where our traditional sense of identity toward the outside condenses and contains our sense of Self.*
Armour sees the skin as an interface between the person and the world around us.
Historically the flaying of the human body resulted in the death of the person. We’re not used to seeing the body fragmented in these ways. However the digital nature of our operation gives permission to step away from the association with death and the tradition of removing the skin in one piece. Instead it has become a celebration of the lives of these mature sleeve donors whose skin has witnessed and recorded their lives.
This exhibition, Birth Sleeves? New Editions, is a celebration of the opened sleeves of 7 people from across the diversity spectrum, aged 50+, whose skins have witnessed and recorded their lives in a myriad of ways, some through their own choice, some resulting from bio-technological intervention but mostly from the abrasion of engaging with life as they progress through it. The exhibition will feature seven new ‘sleeve’ prints on silk, as well as a new body of digital works.
*from “The Digital Stockholm Syndrome in the Post-Ontological Age”, by Mark Jarzombek, 2016, (University of Minnesota Press).
Digital print on silk
“Once upon a time there was an ugly little Welsh boy who wanted to sing beautiful songs and create beautiful images.
But, sadly, he was told he could only do one because that was the way of the world . . so he thought about this for a while and came to the only conclusion he was happy with – ‘Fuck you, I will do them all’. And I did…”
Digital print on silk
“A body of a neurodivergent artist that has birthed two other female spirits, one who has transitioned to a higher realm from where she divinely collaborates
in all my projects. A wild, joyful dancing, pattern seeker who delights in the subversive and basks in the present.”
Digital print on silk
“I am living my best life, so much so I believe I can fly! Wonderful friends, time to give back to my community, and to be or do whatsoever I choose.”
Digital print on silk
“I smile, I read
Words plant the seed
I move in different ways Shaping my days
Come forward, look closer Look again, look again
At this most generous of men
I work, I love, I strive
I invite you to think about what I hope is a new perspective.”
Digital print on silk
“So thankful to have a life full of love, laughter and dance … and Notting Hill Carnival.”
Digital print on silk
“My skin….like my hair, body & clothes ….I used from my teenage 70s through the 90s to help show who I was. Sometimes it helped me shine, be creative and take me on some incredible journeys. It was something I had created. It was me. It helped me stand out from the norm. But it also helped me to hide behind as I was sometimes very insecure about how I looked whilst my friends were handsome & beautiful.
Now in my 60s, looking back, it makes me smile to remember the times, places, situations & people who I met on my skin’s journey. Sometimes it feels like a completely different person I’m thinking of… and so long ago.
But it’s me.
My skin helped me shine.
My skin took me on adventures. My skin helped me hide.
My skin does not define who I am. My skin I don’t see anymore.”
Digital print on silk
“I’m not sure if I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.
Endlessly striving to improve by re-making, re-moulding, re-modelling. Honing in and tweaking. Advancing by taking a step backwards or sideways. Going off on a tangent while staying on course. On route to destination unknown. Unsettlingly settled.”
BIRTH SLEEVES – IN THE MAKING
Birth Sleeves – in the making is a collection of short videos which I have made while experimenting with each ‘sleeve’ over 2022/23. Many have been used to promote the my two solo shows, but as a whole, the ‘in the making’ video was exhibited as an artwork in its own right during Birth Sleeves? New Editions at Bermondsey Project Space in 2023.