19 Arca as Demiurge: Cyborg’s Body, Mutant’s Body
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Sara Simone Spinelli
Sara Simone Spinelli is a doctoral candidate in philosophy at Leuphana University Lüneburg. Her research investigates the tension between form and formlessness in gender as it appears across diverse domains of social life, drawing on the philosophical framework of Georges Bataille. She is particularly interested in how subjective identities are constructed and perceived across cultures, and in their role within the dynamics of the sacred and the profane.
Abstract
In their latest work, the five-album narrative titled KiCK, Venezuelan artist and musician Arca explores the concept of rebirth. Arca’s rebirth is portrayed as a process of autopoiesis, encompassing both body and subjectivity, challenging us to reconsider conventional notions of gender, bodily normativity, and connections to non-human organic and inorganic beings. This interdisciplinary analysis draws from posthuman philosophy, cyberfeminism, and xenofeminism to dissect pivotal moments in Arca’s aesthetic. Through their art, Arca presents unsettling utopias that expand our vision of a queer future filled with numerous possibilities. This paper explores the multifaceted dimensions of Arca’s work, addressing themes of social and political significance, and underscores the transformative power of their art in reshaping our understanding of the human experience.
Abstract
In their latest work, the five-album narrative titled KiCK, Venezuelan artist and musician Arca explores the concept of rebirth. Arca’s rebirth is portrayed as a process of autopoiesis, encompassing both body and subjectivity, challenging us to reconsider conventional notions of gender, bodily normativity, and connections to non-human organic and inorganic beings. This interdisciplinary analysis draws from posthuman philosophy, cyberfeminism, and xenofeminism to dissect pivotal moments in Arca’s aesthetic. Through their art, Arca presents unsettling utopias that expand our vision of a queer future filled with numerous possibilities. This paper explores the multifaceted dimensions of Arca’s work, addressing themes of social and political significance, and underscores the transformative power of their art in reshaping our understanding of the human experience.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter V
- Table of Contents V
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction Women and Their Body: Breaking the Silence 1
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Part I The Feminist Perspective
- 2 The Panoptic Gaze: Female Body and Place 19
- 3 The Female Body and Freedom: Conflict of Life or Colonial Dilemma in Marko Vovchok’s Narrations? 41
- 4 Relative (Non-)Existence of Female-Specific Neuropathology in Current Neuroimaging Research into Hysteria/Functional Neurological Disorders 53
- 5 Sexual Bodies: On Desire and Pleasure in Feminist and Thoughts 79
- 6 Beauty and the Duty to be Beautiful 95
- 7 Beauty Practices and Ukrainian Women Refugees in the Context of Russia-Ukraine War: Another Double Bind 109
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Part II The Feminist Ethics Perspective
- 8 Distractibility: Wandering Between Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen 129
- 9 On Being ‘Indisposed’ to Study and Work, or the Discourse of the Victorian Women’s Menstruation 147
- 10 Female Reproductive Bodies and the Shift from Risk to Threat Society: The (Mis)Use of the Powers of Pregnancy in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Amy Ewing’s The Lone City-Series 163
- 11 Andrea Dworkin. Life, Death, War, and Virginity: A Radical Truth 179
- 12 Reproduction, Structural Injustice, and the Problem of Speaking for Others 197
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Part III The Phenomenological Perspective
- 13 Women, Bodies, and Experiences: Feminist Interventions in the Philosophy of the Body 213
- 14 Between Feminist Phenomenology and Socio-Structural Critique: The Hybrid Construction of Female Embodiment in the Early Theoretical Framework of Iris Marion Young as a Locus of Radical Interdisciplinarity 233
- 15 Confined Spatiality as Deontological Feeling: Iris Marion Young, the Embodied Sense of Entitlement and Its Varieties 251
- 16 Mothers Matter: Discussing Motherhood in Gender Studies and Feminist New Materialisms 269
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Part IV The Alternative Femininities Perspective
- 17 The Female Body and Leontion: Why Were Epicurean Women Capable of Philosophy? 287
- 18 Do Women Think with Their Body? Descartes, Malebranche, Poulain de la Barre 303
- 19 Arca as Demiurge: Cyborg’s Body, Mutant’s Body 321
- 20 The Reinvention of the Human Body: Cyborgs, String Figures and New Boundaries 339
- List of Contributors 339
- List of names
- List of subjects
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter V
- Table of Contents V
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction Women and Their Body: Breaking the Silence 1
-
Part I The Feminist Perspective
- 2 The Panoptic Gaze: Female Body and Place 19
- 3 The Female Body and Freedom: Conflict of Life or Colonial Dilemma in Marko Vovchok’s Narrations? 41
- 4 Relative (Non-)Existence of Female-Specific Neuropathology in Current Neuroimaging Research into Hysteria/Functional Neurological Disorders 53
- 5 Sexual Bodies: On Desire and Pleasure in Feminist and Thoughts 79
- 6 Beauty and the Duty to be Beautiful 95
- 7 Beauty Practices and Ukrainian Women Refugees in the Context of Russia-Ukraine War: Another Double Bind 109
-
Part II The Feminist Ethics Perspective
- 8 Distractibility: Wandering Between Mary Wollstonecraft and Jane Austen 129
- 9 On Being ‘Indisposed’ to Study and Work, or the Discourse of the Victorian Women’s Menstruation 147
- 10 Female Reproductive Bodies and the Shift from Risk to Threat Society: The (Mis)Use of the Powers of Pregnancy in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale and Amy Ewing’s The Lone City-Series 163
- 11 Andrea Dworkin. Life, Death, War, and Virginity: A Radical Truth 179
- 12 Reproduction, Structural Injustice, and the Problem of Speaking for Others 197
-
Part III The Phenomenological Perspective
- 13 Women, Bodies, and Experiences: Feminist Interventions in the Philosophy of the Body 213
- 14 Between Feminist Phenomenology and Socio-Structural Critique: The Hybrid Construction of Female Embodiment in the Early Theoretical Framework of Iris Marion Young as a Locus of Radical Interdisciplinarity 233
- 15 Confined Spatiality as Deontological Feeling: Iris Marion Young, the Embodied Sense of Entitlement and Its Varieties 251
- 16 Mothers Matter: Discussing Motherhood in Gender Studies and Feminist New Materialisms 269
-
Part IV The Alternative Femininities Perspective
- 17 The Female Body and Leontion: Why Were Epicurean Women Capable of Philosophy? 287
- 18 Do Women Think with Their Body? Descartes, Malebranche, Poulain de la Barre 303
- 19 Arca as Demiurge: Cyborg’s Body, Mutant’s Body 321
- 20 The Reinvention of the Human Body: Cyborgs, String Figures and New Boundaries 339
- List of Contributors 339
- List of names
- List of subjects
