PeopleofSuperintelligence

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Stelarc

Also known as Stelios Arcadiou, Στέλιος Αρκαδίου

Stelarc is a Cyprus-born Australian performance artist whose work includes embodied conversational agents, which connect his art to AI. He was born Stelios Arcadiou in 1946 and legally changed his name in 1972. Articulated Head, an embodied conversational agent, ran at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum from 2011 to 2012. In 2010 he won the Ars Electronica Golden Nica for Hybrid Arts, and in 2024 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. As of October 2026, he is a performance artist, and from 2013 to 2018 he held a Distinguished Research Fellow post at Curtin University.

Timeline

  1. 1946–1972

    Born Stelios Arcadiou

    He is born Stelios Arcadiou in Cyprus in 1946, and he legally changes his name in 1972.

  2. 2006–2010

    An ear and a Golden Nica

    An ear is surgically constructed on his arm in 2006. In 2010 he is awarded the Ars Electronica Golden Nica Hybrid Arts Prize.

  3. 2011–2012

    Articulated Head at Powerhouse

    Articulated Head, an embodied conversational agent that speaks to the person who interrogates it, runs at Sydney's Powerhouse Museum from 2011 to 2012.

  4. 2013–2018

    A Curtin research fellowship

    He holds a Distinguished Research Fellow post at Curtin University between 2013 and 2018. In 2015 he receives the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award.

  5. 2024

    Honorary Fellow of the Academy

    He is elected an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities in 2024.

  6. As of October 2026

    Still a performance artist

    He is a Cyprus-born Australian performance artist who has spent the past four decades testing the limits of the human body.

Sources and credits

Photo: We have no published photo of Stelarc yet. Send us a free-licensed photo.

  1. Zombies, Cyborgs & Chimeras - a presentation by Stelarc & discussion | Aalto University aalto.fi. Checked 15 October 2026.
  2. Stelarc - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  3. STELARC | BIO NOTES stelarc.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  4. Performance artist Stelarc challenges what it means to be human humanities.org.au. Checked 15 October 2026.
  5. Articulated Head | Robotic Art roboticart.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  6. Art in Robotics - IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation 2023 ewh.ieee.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  7. Articulated Head 2.0 | Robotic Art roboticart.org. Checked 15 October 2026.
  8. Art|Sci hosts STELARC | UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab artsci.ucla.edu. Checked 15 October 2026.