Coded Bodies

In 2019 the trans*disciplinary[1] collective H&D invited its community to investigate the intersections of technology and the (human, post-human, trans-human, non-human) body from a maker's perspective. On a daily basis our bodies are being scanned, tracked, debugged, rendered, manipulated, and categorized by different kinds of computational processes and measuring devices. By creating shared moments of learning and unlearning, we posed questions such as: How are we, as users and makers, able to understand our bodies' relationships to computation?

With this publication, H&D reflects on conversations, discussions and bodily experiences that took place over the course of one year—spanning topics such as ubiquitous computing, disappearance of interfaces, transhumanism, digitized bodies, biometric data, agency of user, representation and citizenship. The book is composed of projects, initiatives, trials and errors, commentary and questions—all reflecting different perspectives, and entry points into, the subject of ‘Coded Bodies’. The contributions comprise playful reenactments, poetic commentary, annotated prototypes, how-to’s, speculations, prompts, scripts and scores, proposals and disposals. Spanning a wide range of approaches, backgrounds and experiences all contributors connect in this publication through their critical, yet playful attempts of coming to terms with our bodies’ entanglements with technology, and through their active engagement with the question of agency in relation to body-computer intra-actions.[2]