SKIN V – The Body as a habitat

The human body consists, to a significant extent, of ‘non-human’ material. Billions of microorganisms – bacteria, fungi, viruses – colonise the skin, mucous membranes and, in particular, the gut. Without these organisms, humans would not be able to survive: digestion, the immune system, metabolism and even emotional states are inextricably linked to microbial processes. The body is therefore not an autonomous, self-contained system, but an open structure, a habitat that functions solely through symbiosis. Identity arises not in spite of this interpenetration, but through it.

This understanding fundamentally contradicts the long-dominant human-machine narrative. Since the modern era, the body has often been conceived as a mechanical system: repairable, optimisable, replaceable. In cybernetics, transhumanism and classical cyborg visions, humans appear as machines with extensions, as technical objects enhanced by prostheses, chips or software. This conception presupposes separation: here the human, there the tool; here the subject, there the environment. The symbiotic understanding of the body reverses this logic. The body is not a machine, but a living infrastructure, an ecological network of human and non-human actors.

SKIN V – The Body as an Ecological Mirror

The work SKIN V addresses precisely this shifting self-perception. It conceives of the body not as an individual shell, but as a symbiotic habitat, thereby deconstructing our deeply ingrained cultural understanding of the body, identity and autonomy. At the same time, it reveals just how far our self-image is removed from the actual ecological nature of our existence.

SKIN V works with digital mirror images generated using AR technology. These mirrors do not show an idealised or optimised version of the body, but visualise it as a living ecosystem. Plants and fungi grow on the skin, beneath the skin, penetrate the body and intertwine with it. Organs become overgrown, limbs are transformed and, in some cases, replaced. The body no longer appears as a self-contained unit, but as a transitional zone, a habitat for other life forms.

The AR mirrors do not function here as futuristic interfaces in the sense of technological enhancement, but as instruments of uncertainty. They reveal what already exists in reality but is culturally repressed: humanity’s radical dependence on its environment. SKIN V shifts the focus from the body as an object of control to the body as a place of coexistence. The focus is not on progress, optimisation or overcoming limitations, but on coexistence, permeability and the loss of control.

In this sense, SKIN V marks a clear break with classic cyborg narratives. The work does not envision a future of a better, more efficient human being, but confronts us with a present in which humans are no longer alone – and never were. The body appears as a fragile, living infrastructure that can only exist as long as its symbiotic relationships remain intact.