WafaaBilal

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  • NYU professor unsurprisingly removes camera from the back of his head, citing pain and the malaise of lifecasting

    by 
    Laura June Dziuban
    Laura June Dziuban
    02.10.2011

    Well, this one is not really a surprise. NYU Professor / artist Wafaa Bilal had a removable camera installed into the back of his head via a surgically implanted titanium plate to assist him with his lifecasting. Turns out that the camera caused a decent amount of pain as his body rejected the foreign object -- again, no big surprise there. Bilal, however, seems pretty unfazed, and vows to continue on with the project which he says is a "comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory." Whatever, we suspect he just wanted to be known as the guy who had a camera implanted in the back of his head, and that's alright by us. [Photo by Brad Farwell]

  • NYU prof sticks camera on the back of his head, just as promised (video)

    by 
    Sean Hollister
    Sean Hollister
    12.06.2010

    Remember when your parents told you they had eyes in the back of their heads, and part of you wanted to believe? Well, NYU professor and artist Wafaa Bilal recently had that done, though it's not as permanent as we'd hoped -- it's a removable dealie, affixed to a titanium plate implanted in the back of his skull. The resulting lifecast gets piped to a satchel at his side, which will be used in his art project The 3rd I at the Mathaf Arab Museum of Modern Art on December 30th... but you should be able to get a sneak peek at the images at his website in just a little over a week. No word on whether he'll also hook up the whole kit to some sweet LCD goggles. Here's hoping. Video after the break.

  • NYU prof installing camera in the back of his head, JW Parker Middle School teachers insanely jealous

    by 
    Joseph L. Flatley
    Joseph L. Flatley
    11.17.2010

    You've wished you had a camera implant, right? We mean, it's pretty common: you've been on the bus or the incline and something went down and you were like, "I wish I was recording this right now." Well, we know of at least two folks looking to replace their prosthetic eyes with webcams, and now an artist living in New York wishes to sport an implant of his own. Wafaa Bilal, an NYU photography professor, plans on having a camera attached to a piercing on the back of his head for one year. Throughout that time, still images will be taken at one minute intervals and displayed at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art in Qatar. The work, titled "The 3rd I," is billed as "a comment on the inaccessibility of time, and the inability to capture memory and experience," although it really sounds like the dream of every teacher and parent since time immemorial: to have eyes on the back of their head. Of course, the privacy of Bilal's students is being taken into consideration, although the school is not exactly sure how they're handling that one yet -- either the camera will be covered while he teaches or shut off altogether while in NYU buildings.