Grinders
An encounter with DIY cyborgs
In rural small towns in the United States techno-anarchists are working on the fusion of the human and the machine. They develop devices and gadgets to implant into their own bodies, becoming guinea pigs of an envisioned transhuman future. Their risky experiments and strong faith into technology’s emancipatory potential challenge science, medicine and ethics equally.
The photographer has been following the US-american bodyhacking community 2015-2019. His series, depicting makeshift arrangements and close-up surgeries, offers a counterproposal to the sleek visual iconography that commonly surrounds topics like 'enhancement' and 'future'.
Grinders: Resources
The British Journal of Photography: Bodyhacking and tech implants in Hannes Wiedemann’s Grinders (Interview)
WIRED: The DIY cyborgs hacking their bodies for fun (Publication)
HKW Technosphere Magazine: Grinders (Essay)
Schader-Stiftung: Dialoge 05 Human Upgrade. Susanna Hertrich & Hannes Wiedemann (Exhibition Catalogue, Essays) [pdf]
Spiegel Online: Mensch sein ist nicht genug (Publication)
WIRED.JP: 人体をDIYで「サイボーグ化」する人々──その痛々しくも「未来的」な肉体改造の瞬間 (Publication)