Week 4 Blog


MedTech and Art

The human body is a source of intrigue for almost everyone, not just surgeons and biologists. It is fascinating to be able to, with the invention of technologies like MRIs, x-rays, and CAT scans, look inside your own body and see what forces are behind both the simplest of tasks and the most complicated skills. One of my personal experiences with medical technology came recently, when I went to get an MRI scan on my elbow injury. Being able to see all the tendons, ligaments, and muscles in detail made me think of The Visible Human Project, which was a gallery of cross-sectional pictures of the human body. Emily Watson’s jewelry based on the human body is another example of how humans have become a source of inspiration for artists.

The Visible Human Project

Emily Watson's Jewelry

It is interesting to see how the fascination with the human body and medical science has evolved into art and popular culture. For example, movies like Robocop and Eyes Without a Face tell stories of how medical technology can be used to create people and/or machines beyond the belief of what we believe is humanly possible. Popular TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy or Private Practice are centered around doctors and hospitals, featuring the work of surgeons and the injured and sick community, which sometimes can be graphic and visually hard to watch. However, it is only with the continual development of medical technology that the resulting art can be made, showing the world how the human body can be dissected, shaped, and changed.

Robocop Movie Poster (2014)

Sources:

Cribocop. “Robocop Movie Trailer (1987).” YouTube, YouTube, 1 Nov. 2007,  www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mLmHUbC240

Emily Watson | Metal & Enamel Jewelry, www.metalemily.com/index.html.

“Eyes Without A Face - Edith Scob.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 Aug. 2008, 
www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=fvwp&v=F3RdRfmdH64.

Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine pt1” Cole UC online. Youtube, 21 April 2012. Web. 22 April 2019. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=422&v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk

Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine pt2” Cole UC online. Youtube, 21 April 2012. Web. 22 April 2019. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ

Comments

  1. Han Kyeol KimApril 22, 2019 at 6:59 PM

    I find it interesting that you mentioned Robocop. So, we can say that there can be connection between week 3 and week 4 's subjects. Med Technology and robotics. One sounds organic and other sounds inorganic, but there is certainly a connection between them in artistic perspective.

    ReplyDelete
  2. PiperMonkApril 24, 2019 at 11:17 AM

    Hey Devon! I feel like when people have surgeries like hip replacements or pins in broken wrists it is almost like sculpting a body. The surgeon is the artist and the body is the clay they are working with. Kind of like with Robocop where they create this being anytime a surgeon does work on a body it is their art.

    ReplyDelete

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