Chella Man Explores Body Autonomy At Frieze New York

The queer artist showcases their experience with the cochlear implant in a short film, ‘The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was.’

The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was, 2023. Video still.

The annual Frieze Art Fair has returned to New York, taking place once again at The Shed in Manhattan. 

A highlight of the fair is Chella Man’s 2023 film, The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was. Screening now through May 5 on Level 4 of The Shed, the short film is in collaboration with Performance Space New York.

The film, which examines Man’s relationship with their cochlear implant, and the various parallels between the deaf and hearing worlds, is a radical take on the human experience. While the cochlear implant is viewed as a huge leap for positive technology within the deaf community, the negatives that come with the physically intense and multiple procedures are oftentimes overlooked.

On view at Frieze, the film is being screened as a connection to their performance Autonomy, which debuted last night at the Keith Haring Theatre in New York. The extremely personal performance gives viewers a look into Man’s journey with the medical industrial complex, and the physical scars they’ve obtained from different procedures they’ve undergone over the years. Both the performance and The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was break down the binaries of how we view disabled people, which is Man’s goal with her work–instead of relying on the same narratives often projected onto the disabled community, Man speaks from their own experience to shine a line on the reality of living as part of the queer, trans, and disabled community. 

The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was, 2023. Video still. Courtesy of the Artist and Leroy Farrell.

Man is a gender queer artist and activist that does not acknowledge the gender binary. They often employ radical techniques in their work and their own life. The artist uses tattoos and piercing as a form of healing, and a way to reclaim their relationship with their body, noting that “piercing their skin is an act of erosion, revealing what lies beneath the surface, within the body and broader societal constructs,” Man said.  

While their film is only on view through the weekend at Frieze, Autonomy, which is co-presented with the Jewish Museum, will be on view as part of Overflow, Afterglow: New Work in Chromatic Figuration, beginning May 24. 

Man’s presentation is one of many on view at Frieze over the weekend. Composer Ellen Fullman, will be playing the Long String Instrument, an installation featuring dozens of gigantic strings, stretching over 50 feet. Attendees will be able to interact directly with artist Sharif Farrag work, Gotham Grinders: Hamster Wheel, in which participants can race cars made by the artist exclusively for the fair. The project is free and open to the public at Rockefeller Center, where participants will wear customized and individually fitted ceramic hamster heads. These are just a few of the many other installations and exhibitions taking place at Frieze. 

This year, the fair will include more than 60 galleries spanning 25 countries, including 303 Gallery, Miguel Abreu Gallery, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, and Gagosian. Artists exhibited will include Alex Katz, Matty Davis, Ghada Amer, and many more.

‘The Device That Turned Me into a Cyborg Was Born the Same Year I Was’ is on view through the weekend. The Frieze New York Art Fair will run through May 5.