Dutch designer Marcia Nolte has created a somewhat horrifying series of photographs, called Corpus 2.0, in which the human body is artifically modified to accommodate various products, including headphones and high heels, as shown above. The underlying suggestion behind the exhibition has something to do with evolution, but the striking thing to my eyes was the clean, minimal photography, which reinforced the idea that all these “evolutions” would only be possible through surgery.

There are several crazy processes by which the human body is physically modified or stretched to fit a certain purpose. There’s the horrifying procedure known as Foot Binding, the collarbone-distorting ‘neck elongation‘, and the famous lip plate. All these various unpleasantries make me cringe like hell.

Above we see the “cellphone shoulder” and “texting hand” examples. The insane thing is that, out of all those extreme modifications linked to above, Nolte’s commercial-products exhibition actually hits closer to my own experience. How? Well, my little toes seem to be moving slightly inwards after two years of me pushing my wide feet into long, thin Converse All-Stars for the past few years. Maybe I just can’t remember what my toes looked like before, but now something seems, well, off. If only I had some before and after photos… 

So, I endure this apparent body transformation for the sake of a brand, a product, an image I’m trying to cultivate. It’s not severe and it’s not anywhere near as ugly as the extreme modifications in Nolte’s photos, but it’s a physical change nonetheless, and one done at the expense of a brand. Credit goes to this designer for making me think more about it; the above photo shows a modified “cigarette mouth” and a nose with a built-in ridge for glasses.

Hold up, though: this concept explores some of the same ground, and it’s by another young Dutch designer. Jewellry for your eyeball. Crazy, those guys, I tell you.