BLENDER by Stelarc and Nina Sellars

"BLENDER is the first collaborative installation produced by Stelarc and Nina Sellars. Both artists undertook liposuction operations specifically for the purpose of this new work and have succeeded in securing the sanitised isolation and, most importantly, the legal ownership of the remnants of the procedures. The bio-materials are now housed within BLENDER's industrial casing, which was on exhibition at the Meat Market Gallery B in North Melbourne until August 18, 2005.

The installation itself stands at just over 1.6 metres high and is anthropormorphic in scale and structure. Every few minutes BLENDER automatically circulates or "blends" its contents via a system of compressed air pumps and a pneumatic actuator. The mixture includes 4.6 litres of subcutaneous fat taken from Stelarc's torso and Nina Sellars' limbs, zylocain (local anaesthetic), adrenalin, O+ blood, sodium bicarbonate, peripheral nerves, saline solutions and connective tissue. Installed under a single, dramatic spotlight, BLENDER is also wired for sound. Rainer Linz's sound design subtly amplifies, distorts and delays the audio produced by the blending mechanism itself." more...