Mad science was invented ages go, and Giovanni Aldini (1762 – 1834) was a certainly a member of the club. This Italian physicist primarily worked on the medical applications of galvanism and used to tour across Europe electrifying human and animal bodies for the delight of the public. His notoriety peaked in 1803 when he performed at the Royal College of Surgeons in London – using his conducting rods on the body of a hanged criminal named George Foster, he caused the dead man’s muscles to contract and distort. Aldini was made a knight by the emperor of Austria for his fabulous showmanship.
Moving into the modern times, I give you Experiments in Galvanism by mad scientist artist Garnet Hertz. The project implanted a miniature webserver into the body of a dead frog and enabled remote viewers are to trigger a movement in the frog’s legs!
Experiments in Galvanism is the culmination of studio and gallery experiments in which a miniature computer is implanted into the dead body of a frog specimen. Akin to Damien Hirst’s bodies in formaldehyde, the frog is suspended in clear liquid contained in a glass cube, with a blue ethernet cable leading into its splayed abdomen. The computer stores a website that enables users to trigger physical movement in the corpse: the resulting movement can be seen in gallery, and through a live streaming webcamera.
An image of the frog’s wired-up innards is after the jump.