Surgery as satire

“This is my body…This is my Software” is an exhibition by the French artist Orlan. It has, as they say, succeeded in stimulating a debate. One comment in the visitors' book berates a “sick, bitter, twisted, sad excuse for an artist (if that's what you call an ugly bitch).”

It isn't hard to see why this 10 year project is controversial—it involves a series of operations (performed, by the use of satellite link ups, in front of an international audience) designed to remodel Orlan's face. Thanks to the attentions of her surgeons, most of her features are now recognisable from classic Western paintings. The gallery is …