[Stelarc: Event for Modified Man 1976]

This video is documentation of a performance entitled Modulate / Meditate: Event for Modified Man held at Tamura Gallery in Tokyo, Japan, from 26 January to 1 February 1976.

In this durational performance, Stelarc has hooks inserted into his back and sews first his lips and then his eyelids closed with a needle and thread. In the gallery are TV monitors including one showing an X-ray of his own body. Standing in the centre of the gallery with the hooks attached to the wall behind him, the artist captures the sounds of his own body – heartbeat, breath and blood rushing – which are then amplified throughout the space. In the latter part of the video, the participation of the body comes to an end: the artist removes the stitches from his eyelids and mouth and the hooks are removed.

This performance was originally filmed on 1/2 inch videotape.