Week 4 -- Medicine + Technology + Art

MRI Scan

Everything we have learned about the human body has stemmed from the relationship between medicine and art. Although an unlikely pair, art has fueled the findings of scientists and the ability to understand the interworking networks that comprise the human body. Andreas Vesalius, author of De Humani Corporis Fabrica, is considered the founder of human anatomy and was the first to accurately reflect the anatomy of the human body. This artistic triumph also translated in success in medical fields when the treatment of a disease was finally joined with accurate bodily locations (Vesna). Now, we have advanced devices such as the MRI, which on the surface, seems to be a tool of medical detection. Casini takes this idea and identifies the art behind the MRI, showing how it is considered a self-portrait, as we try to identify the parts of our brain that make up our ‘personhood’ (Casini).

Before and After Plastic Surgery

Orlan during The Reincarnation of Saint Orlan

In my daily life, I see this dynamic of art and medicine in the common occurrence of plastic surgery; there were 15.6 million plastic surgeries in the U.S. in the year 2014 (Plastic). It is commonly publicized with celebrity figures such as the Kardashians. Discussing this idea in the context of cosmetics, this type of plastic surgery is aimed at finding beauty and consequently, this form of medicine, now leaning more toward art. Beauty is defined as, “ A combination of qualities, such as shape, color, or form, that pleases the aesthetic senses, especially the sight” (Definition). Women, each time they apply makeup or style their hair do so in hopes of attaining this idea of beauty. Plastic surgery takes this idea beyond the ability to apply and remove, and makes it a permanent occurrence. Take Orlan, the French artist who made her body a work of art. She underwent nine surgeries to attain, what she believed to be, the aspects of beauty from iconic paintings. In an interview she says, “If you were to describe me without anyone being able to see me, they would think I am a monster, that I am not fuckable. But if they see me, that could perhaps change” (Jeffries). This portrays women’s perception of art and beauty and how at this crossroads of science and art, this type of reformation is possible and widely done. This fusion of art and science is at the forefront of body-altering ability.

References

Casini, Silvia. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations  sssssbetween Science and the Arts. Ca’ Foscari Università di Venezia. 23 April 2016)

"Definition of Beauty in English:." Beauty: Definition of Beauty in Oxford Dictionary (American sssssEnglish) (US). N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

Jeffries, Stuart. "Orlan's Art of Sex and Surgery." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, sssss2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"Plastic Surgery Procedural Statistics." American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Web. 23 Apr.   sssss2016.

Vesna, Victoria. Medicine Body Lecture. Video. 23 April 2016.