Body Alchemy with Hugh Herr and Ana Rajčević
About This Event
At Pioneer Works, engineer-performer Hugh Herr and artist-musician Ana Rajčević appear together in a program that blends rock/pop performance with discussions of prosthetics and engineered movement. Rajčević's work occupies the intersection of performance, music and embodied technology, while Herr — a prosthetics designer with patents such as the Rheo Knee and powered ankle-foot devices — emphasizes plain talk and demonstrable systems.
About Cybernetics and the Chimeric Body
Now playing at Pioneer Works, *Cybernetics and the Chimeric Body* brings together climber-engineer Hugh Herr and designer-performer Ana Rajčević in a Rock/Pop setting shaped by prosthetics research. Herr’s work, including patents such as the Rheo Knee and powered ankle-foot systems, anchors the program’s attention on bodies rebuilt through engineering and the politics of “normal” movement. The piece sits inside New York’s long-running conversation about disability, technology, and performance, even without a documented NYC premiere. One clear point emerges: the future body is already here, and it arrives unevenly.
About the Artists
Hugh Herr
Hugh Herr is an engineer and performer whose work moves between rock/pop presentation and the mechanics of the human body. Known for returning to elite climbing with prostheses he helped design, he holds patents including the Rheo Knee and has developed powered ankle-foot devices.
Ana Rajčević
Ana Rajčević is a Rock/Pop artist whose work often sits at the edge of performance, music, and embodied technology. In New York City, she has appeared at Pioneer Works in the program “Cybernetics and the Chimeric Body,” sharing the stage with climber-engineer Hugh Herr in a discussion-driven performance context.