Chris Hables Gray on Cyborg Citizenship and Art's Political Role

In a 2012 essay for art press 2's 'Cyborg' issue, Chris Hables Gray argues that artists like Orlan, Stelarc, Ricardo Dominguez, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, and Coco Rico prefigure a responsible cyborg citizenship by appropriating technoscientific practices to challenge contemporary political hierarchies. Gray contends that as humans become cybernetic organisms, decentralized, horizontal systems based on active citizenship are necessary to counter elite control. Orlan's self-hybridizations and sculpture Bump Load demonstrate beauty as ideological pressure and a future of composite, technological bodies. Stelarc's Third Arm, virtual arm, and Ear on Arm project—a Bluetooth-linked ear implant on his forearm—explore connective life and fractal flesh, relying on public participation. Gómez-Peña's Pocha Nostra creates ethno-cyborgs through anticolonialist anthropology, while Dominguez's Transborder Immigrant Tool aids undocumented migrants with hacked GPS phones. Coco Rico, a doctoral candidate in History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz, advocates trans-species anarchism and the obsolescence of money. Gray concludes that these artists embody 'hybrid identity in action,' merging technical skill with ethical vision to reshape bodies, identities, and power structures.