Con i corpi degli altri: la rivisitazione dei confini anatomici nel dialogo tra arte e scienza

By articulating the notion of boundaries in relation to the human body, the essay aims to examine, from the perspective of art history and visual culture, the redefinition of the identity of the contemporary subject by the use of biomedical technologies. These technologies are changing the accepted notion of a closed, fixed body protected by strict biological boundaries by proposing hybrid and contaminated bodies, reconstructed from other human or animal organs, in vitro human tissues, and high-tech prosthetic devices. Specifically, the article will examine the artistic dynamics behind a “somaesthetics of the hybrid”, which supports a changing relationship between corporeality, identity and social relations, focusing on the heterogeneous bodies created by organ transplantation surgery and the visual imaginary associated with them. The works of contemporary artists such as Anna Hawkins, Mounir Fatmi, and Marco Donnarumma will be used as examples of these mechanisms. Reflecting on the breach of anatomical barriers, they frequently rework traditional models to emphasize the generative – or even destructive – potential of bodily communication flows between the self and others, as well as between the self and technology.