Arthur Elsenaar and Remko Scha Win the 2003 Leonardo Award for Excellence

Arthur Elsenaar and Remko Scha's article "Electric Body Manipulation as Performance Art: A Historical Perspective," published in Leonardo Music Journal 12, has been named the winner of the 2003 Leonardo Award for Excellence.

lsenaar and Scha's winning article traces the historical development of using electrically manipulated human bodies for theatrical display. Addressing the controversial aspects of this sometimes destructive art form, they extend their inquiry to investigate the implications of electrical executions. More often, they note the stimulating effects of electricity upon the body, studying Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation as implemented in the 19th Century by Duchenne and continued in practice today by artists such as Stelarc and co-author Elsenaar. Citing technological advances that enable interactive nerve stimulation, Elsenaar and Scha point toward a future of computer-generated dance and theater performances.

The Leonardo Award for Excellence was originally established by chemist and inventor Myron Coler and Leonardo publisher Robert Maxwell. The 2003 Leonardo Award for Excellence is co-sponsored by the Technoculture Studies Department and the Art Department at the University of California, Davis, where it will be presented at a prize award lecture on campus during the Spring 2004 session.

For more information, including downloadable versions of the winning article and three honorable mentions, see http://mitpress2.mit.edu/e-journals/Leonardo/isast/awards.html