Neil Harbisson

Cyborg artist Neil Harbisson

Neil Harbisson (born 27 July 1982) is a British-Catalan avant-garde artist and musician, famous for being the first person with a cyborg antenna implant as well as for his solo work.

Quotes

• Beware not to use the future as an excuse to ignore living in the present.
  • As quoted in Serious Wonder (22 June 2015). "A conversation on cyborgism"

• I don't feel that I'm using technology, I don't feel that I'm wearing technology, I feel that I am technology.
  • As quoted in the Huffington Post (26 July 2013). "Hacking Our Senses"

• There are no white skins, and there are no black skins. Humans skins are of different shades of orange.
  • As quoted in El Punt (28 January 2012). "La teva cara em sona"

• Life will be much more exciting when we stop creating applications for mobile phones and we start creating applications for our own body.
  • As quoted in TED Global (29 June 2012). "I can hear colour"

• Technology is made by humans. If we modify our body with human creations we become more human.
  • As quoted in The Sun (15 May 2012). "Eye, Robot"

• It's not the union between my head and the electronic eye what makes me feel 'cyborg', it's the union between the software and my brain.
  • As quoted in Ara (19 January 2011). "No som blancs ni negres, tots som taronges"

• If salads sounded like Justin Bieber, children would eat more vegetables.
  • As quoted in Folha (8 February 2012) "Na Campus Party, artista ciborgue conta como usa olho para ouvir cores"

• When you're a little weird, you aspire to be normal; when you're very weird, you aspire to be recognised for it.
  • As quoted in El Pais (15 January 2012). "El Cyborg del Tercer Ojo"

• If I have problems perceiving a color I don't know who to go to – an opthamologist, a neurologist, or a computer programmer.
  • As quoted in KPCC (14 May 2013). "Cyborg Neil Harbisson can hear in color"

• Light is slow.
  • As quoted on BBC Radio 5 (2004) "Art Quotes"

Quotes about Neil Harbisson

• Frankly, Neil Harbisson, freaked me the fuck out. Both inspirational and terrifying. Like seeing a benevolent witch displaying her magic: even if you’re only using your powers to grow magic daffodils, it’s an ungodly talent that’s beyond human.
  • Davo McConville, as quoted in Noisey (1 May 2014) "Moogfest, where brains meet bass"

• I had a very special encounter with him. Surreal and especially futuristic. He raises so many questions, so many lines of thought, that force you to think differently.
  • Juan José Millás, as quoted in El Pais (15 January 2012) "El ciborg del tercer ojo"

• Neil Harbisson is one of the world's first bona fide cyborgs.
  • Brian Merchant, as quoted in Motherboard (8 May 2013) "What it's like to be a cyborg as explained by a cyborg"

• Harbisson's antenna, hovering above his Henry V-meets-the-Monkees hairdo, is quite the lifestyle statement. I tell him he looks like a cross between an insect and a call-centre worker.
  • Stuart Jeffries, as quoted in The Guardian (5 May 2014) "Neil Harbisson, the world's first cyborg artist"

• Harbisson meets two apparently incompatible conditions: shyness and exhibitionism. He speaks softly, never utters a word higher than another and his body language is that of someone slightly retracted. However, he walks all over the world with a cyborg eye dangling over his forehead in a kind of antenna that seems to sprout from within his head. Along the way, people nudge each other and point at him. But non of that stops him, he remains impassive and continues on his way.
  • Juan José Millás, as quoted in El Pais (15 January 2012) "El ciborg del tercer ojo"