Week 4: MedTech + Art

If I were to describe the relationship between medicine, technology, and art with one sentence, I would say that the technological advancement in the field of medicine provided a new medium for the expression of art.

Nowadays, it is not uncommon to see art in the form of make-up. With make-up, people compose incredible work on themselves and alter their outlooks temporarily, their own bodies representing their standard of beauty, their own faces becoming movable art installations.

The most-watched make-up tutorial on youtube with more than 100, 000, 000 views in total

Aside from make-up, plastic surgery also offers a way for people to use their body as a medium of art.

In this week's lecture, Professor Vesna introduced a brief history of plastic surgery and examples in which artists are able to create artwork by changing their body. When it comes to plastic surgery, the kind of augmentation that first comes to mind are cosmetic surgeries, performed simply to increase attractiveness. I am fascinated to find that plastic surgeries were first documented over 4000 years ago. It is also interesting to see how techniques first developed to reconstruct damaged body parts are now being used more often as an art form.

The work of ORLAN, The Reincarnation of Saint-Orlan, is particularly fascinating to me. ORLAN underwent multiple plastic surgeries to acquire beauty as depicted by male artists. The unrealistic idealization of female beauty is often observed in paintings by male artists. While such impractical conception is usually criticized by female artists, ORLAN chose to embrace and portray it using her own body. Without the advancement in plastic surgery, this and many other artworks alike, would not have been possible.

ORLAN during one of her plastic surgeries

While plastic surgery acts as a medium for art, other fields of medicine inspire the creation of artwork instead. As mentioned by Professor Vesna, images from medical imaging systems are often interpreted as art. This belief is shared by Laura Jacobson, inspired by MRIs of the human brain to create clay sculptures, etchings, and acrylics. Using her own brain scans, Jacobson was able to create works that connects society, mind, and brain, as well as investigate the connection between neuroscience and society.

A piece from Jacobson's collection, Brain Scapes I

A piece from Jacobson's collection, Brain Scapes I

This week's discussion offers a lot of insight into the connection between technology and art in ways unexpected. I am surprised to learn that medicine, a field seemingly unrelated to art, could have such impact on the work of body artists as well as traditional artists.

Citation

 "Contoversial Artist Orlan The Reincarnation of Saint-Orlan - Creative Mapping." Creative Mapping. Creative Mapping, 04 Aug. 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

 Donald, Brooke. "Artwork Inspired by MRI Brain Scans Installed at Stanford Imaging Center." Stanford University. Stanford University, 5 June 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. 

 Dope2111. "'INSIDE OUT' Makeup Tutorial (Disgust,Sadness,Joy,Anger & Fear)." YouTube. YouTube, 16 July 2015. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. 

 Jeffries, Stuart. "Orlan's Art of Sex and Surgery." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 01 July 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. 

 Johnson, Samantha. "The "Weird Science" of Plastic Surgery Art - Introducing Artist Orlan." IEnhance. IEnhance, 24 May 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. 

 "Laura Jacobson Fine Art GallerieS." Brain Scapes I. Laura Jacobson, n.d. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. 

 Salcido, Jannelle. "The History of Plastic Surgery." PlasticSurgery.com. PlasticSurgery.com, 2010. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.

 Vesna, Victoria. "Medicine Pt3." YouTube. YouTube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.