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| (California Science Center, Los Angeles, CA.) |
In professor Vesna's second lecture, she discusses how medical technologies, like X-ray, MRI, and CAT scan, are forms of art. I work in a doctor's office, and we have both a MRI and X-ray machine. I have been there 5 years, and I still get excited to view the images produced, because I consider them works of art. In her paper, Silva Casini explains that MRI scans are essentially self portraits. Much like art, MRI scans go deeper than surface level, and they are open to interpretation: they look novel to each person who views them.
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| (MRI brain cartographies) |
The lecture also mentions that years ago, medicine was considered art because physicians who used tools or technology weren't considered doctors. I believe that medicine is an art, and that physicians are both doctors and artists. Take plastic surgery for instance, plastic surgeons reconstruct and mold parts of the body, they use the human body, like artists use a canvas. Going even deeper, medical procedures are in themselves performance art. Physicians perform with the utmost precision and beauty, that is aesthetically stunning. The body performance art Orlan creates is a perfect example of how surgical performances are art. Her objective was to represent the visions of beauty created by various artists throughout history. Through medical procedures and technology, Orlan herself became a work of art.
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| (Photograph of Orlan, indicating what parts of the face she used from each work of art. ) |
As professor Vesna states, human dissection is at the intersection of art and science. I believe Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds exhibition, flawlessly embodies this intersection. He displays human anatomy, by preserving and displaying biological tissue through plastination. His work is not only amazingly beautiful, but it also evokes great emotion, and is quite intriguing. Much like art, medical technologies, like plastination, MRI, and X-ray, are allowing us to see inside of ourselves, to see who we really are.
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| (Gunther von Hagen's beautiful piece.) |
SOURCES:
Casini, S. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations 19.1 (2011): 73-99. Project MUSE. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Jameson, Elizabeth. "Brain Cartographies." Image. Artspan. N.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Orlan. "The Reincarnation of Saint-Orlan." Photograph. Thisisnotanart. 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Space.com Staff. California Science Center. Digital image. 10 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016
Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine pt1." Cole UC online. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine pt2." Cole UC online. YouTube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine pt3." Cole UC online. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Von Hagen, Gunther. Man Playing Chess. Digital image. Gettyimages. 2006. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
Wikipedia contributors. "Gunther von Hagens." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Apr. 2016. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.
It is interesting that you think medical procedures like plastic surgeries in themselves as performance art. This makes me wonder if people go through these surgeries for the process of transition (performing arts) or the ending results (aesthetic art). I agree that MRI scans are technological art pieces allow us to see our inner self and reveal who we really are at a different level. Of course, a scan of our brain cannot be a full representation of who we are but it depicts unique details of our brain that otherwise cannot be represented.
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