On October 17, 2020, I co-chaired, with Mélanie Boucher, the session The Double of the Body: Between Art, Science, and Museums as part of the Annual Conference of the Universities Art Association of Canada (UAAC/AAUC), organized by Simon Fraser University and the University of British Columbia. This session was part of an interdisciplinary reflection on representations of the body and its duplications across artistic media, science, and museal practices.
Article’s thumbnail: Photo by Vladyslav Tobolenko on Unsplash
The Multiplied Body: An Interdisciplinary Approach
The idea of the body double runs through the history of art and scientific thought. This session explored how different disciplines—visual arts, neuroscience, anthropology, and museology—address this theme in various forms:
- Artistic representations of the duplicated body, from classical trompe-l’œil to new digital practices.
- Avatars and simulacra, through photography, video, and virtual reality.
- Scientific models of the body, such as anatomical casts or museum reconstructions.
Issues and Critical Perspectives
By bringing together researchers, artists, and museum professionals, this session enabled the discussion of several critical questions:
- How do digital technologies transform the perception of the body in art and science?
- What role do museums play in the construction and transmission of knowledge about the body?
- How does the body double, whether artificial or symbolic, influence our identity and our relationship to reality?
A Space for Dialogue Between Research and Creation
This conference fostered exchanges between artistic practices and theoretical analysis, highlighting the hybrid and evolving nature of the body in contemporary representations. As co-chair of this session, I helped structure a stimulating dialogue around new approaches to the multiplied and reconfigured body in art, science, and museums.