Week 4: MedTech + Art

-
This week's topic focused on the relationship between medicine, the technology used in medicine and art. According to Professor Vesna, the dissection of human corpses and anatomy in general is truly the intersection of art and science and more specifically, medicine and art. Human beings have always had a fascination with knowing more about our own bodies. The ancient Egyptians utilized dissection and mummification to preserve their dead for spiritual purposes. The dissection of corpses began to be used for more scientific purposes during the time of the ancient Greeks who then developed the scientific method during the Renaissance Era.
                              Illustration of a dissection (De Re Anatomica, 1559).


Usually when people think of the intersection between medicine and art they think of plastic surgery. In this week's lecture, I was surprised to learn that plastic surgery has been around for around 4,000 years originating in India. According to Professor Vesna, plastic surgery became necessary after World War I when many wounded soldiers needed reconstructive work done to various parts of their body and face. In this sense, the doctor is the artist working to alter the patient's look and make them more "aesthetically pleasing". On the other hand, the patient can also be the artist by using surgery to make a statement about society and culture. The perfect example of this is Orlan, a French artist who has had 9 cosmetic surgeries that were "live, videotaped and a spectacle" (Vesna). Orlan underwent these alterations to make a statement about society's standards of beauty and taking control of your own beauty.
Orlan had surgeries that incorporated the most famous parts of iconic women in art and myth into her look. 
I think when artists utilize these technologies to make art, people look at them in a different way and appreciate them more. For example, Body Worlds, a traveling art exhibition created by Gunther von Hagens, displays human cadavers doing day to day tasks. The exhibition utilizes the technique of plastication which replaces the body's water and fat with plastics (Vesna). Another great example of medicine as art is the many different projects of Diana Gromala. One of Gromala's projects is GSR (galvanic skin response) which uses a font that is "integrated with biofeedback" (Gromala). The font moves according to the messages our skin is sending.
Fine Art America. 
Medical technology like MRIs and X-rays can also be considered forms of art. As 21st century people, we oftentimes undervalue technology such as X-rays and MRIs because we have not known a world without them. As an athlete, I have undergone many X-rays and MRIs but I have never taken the time to think about how the technology works. Because of this, I have also never appreciated the technology and considered how it could be an art form. 

Resources 
Casini, S. (2011). Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts. Configurations, 19(1), 73-99.
Talks, TEDx. “TEDxAmericanRiviera - Diane Gromala - Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 Dec. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=283&v=cRdarMz--Pw.
Vesna, V. (2019). Medical Technologies: Part One. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from
https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-3-view?module_item_id=26086628. 





































Vesna, V. (2019). Medical Technologies: Part Two. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from
https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-3-view?module_item_id=26086628. 

 Vesna, V. (2019). Medical Technologies: Part Three. [Video Lecture]. Retrieved from https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/1067208/pages/unit-3-view?module_item_id=26086628. 

 “What Is Installation.” Mrsmlcarter [Licensed for Non-Commercial Use Only] / What Is Installation, mrsmlcarter.pbworks.com/w/page/70701311/What is Installation.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Event 3: Internet Heritage Site

-
Image
As a newly-graduated high school senior, I remember hearing the factoid that UCLA was the "birth place of the internet" at the New Student Orientation. I had not thought much more about it until I heard about the Leonard Kleinrock Internet Heritage Site via other students in DESMA 9.  The Internet Heritage Site is located at 3420 Boelter Hall where the very first Internet message was sent to Stanford Research Institute on October 29, 1969 (Savio). The message, sent by a graduate student, was the first two letters of the word "login", "lo". Before the student could type the rest of the word, the ARPANET system crashed (Kudler).  The ARPANET, the predecessor of the Internet, was a huge success because it was able to connect to different hardwares and softwares which previous systems could not accomplish. The sending of the first Internet message was between a Sigma 7 at UCLA and a SDS 940 at Stanford which are two different systems (Kudler).  I de
Read more

Week 1: Two Cultures

-
Image
Even though the word "science" is in the name of my major, I could not be more separate from the world of science and mathematics as a Political Science student. Political Science is considered an arts degree and constitutes a great deal of reading. Prior to this week, I was unaware of C.P. Snow and his 1959 lecture on the two cultures of literary intellectuals and scientific intellectuals. However, I have always sensed the divide between the two and the rift is even more evident in college. As Professor Vesna mentioned in her lecture, the campus is split between North Campus (literary side of campus) and South Campus (math and science side of campus). There is minimal mixing in between the two campuses; in my four years, I have only taken around 4 classes within South Campus. Courtesy of U.C.L.A. :  http://www.ucla.edu/pdf/ucla-campus-map.pdf However, contrary to John Brockman's theory, I do not believe that the two cultures should remain separated. As a Japanese a
Read more

Week 2: Math + Art

-
Image
Prior to this week's lecture and course readings, I was unaware of the extent mathematics had influenced art. Without the integration of mathematics into the artistic process, art would not be what it is today. This is especially true since the artistic depiction of the fourth dimension can only be accomplished with the utilization of mathematics. Besides the fourth dimension, I learned about a few other concepts that showcase the intersection of mathematics and art. From Professor Vesna's lecture, I learned about the golden ratio which exemplifies this crossroad. The golden ratio is calculated by dividing a line so that "the shorter part is to the longer part as the longer part is to the whole" (Vesna). The golden ratio can be seen in a number of structures and paintings like the Athenian Parthenon, the Egyptian Pyramids, and Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa. Da Vinci "The Last Supper" showing golden ratios   Also, I learned about the origins of pers
Read more