Medicine + Technology + Art | Week 3 Notes

Human Body & Medical Technology

- back to the time of human dissection

- anatomical drawing

- 3d scans of human body

- how does perception of body shift with the rise of genetics, digital body, xrays, catscans

- dissections and preservations of the body (mummification) --> ancient egyptians, greeks

- andreas visaleus --> "on the human anatomy" (1543)

- first time that treatment of disease was rooted in accurate representation of the physical body

- henry gray's anatomy (1853)

- Prof. Gunther von Hagens -- Body Worlds --> traveling exhibition of human bodies and body parts using plastination (preservation via polymers)

- Visible human project -- cross-sections of the human body to visualize internal anatomy

Human Genome Project

- project goal to indentify all the 20-25k genes in human DNA, determine sequences of 3 billion chemical base pairs that make up DNA

- microbiology now looking at the entire network within the human body, not just isolated componenet

- medicine used to be considered an art, and using technology (microscopes, etc.) were considered cheating the art

- X-RAYS, MRI - magnetic resonance imaging, CAT SCAN --> non-invasive, looking into the human body without cutting it open

Plastic Surgery 

- culture and society, what artist are doing in a performative manner

now a new innovation, has been used for thousands of years (skin grafts in ancient india)

- plastic in plastic surgery does not mean artificial, it is derived from the word "mold/form"

- war is a driver of technology --> prosthetic arm, driven by empathy and humanity

Orlan

- definition of beauty, body performance art

- what does it mean to be beautiful, to age, how much are you in control of how you look?

- 9 cosmetic surgeries, each with a theme that she developes

- while being operated on, she reads philosophical works

- objective: to embody visions of beauty created by renowned painters throughout history via replication of facial features (boucher's europa (lips), bottticelli's venus (nose), mona lisa (forehead), DIANA (eyes)

- what triggered the culture of plastic srugery?

Eduardo Kats

- microchip implanted into leg

- registered himself as an animal and as the owner of his animal

- performed surgery himself

- using the body as a medium of art

- professor warwick also inserted a chip into his body, emitted a special signal that allowed him to operate RIFD chips and could be tracked and would automatically open doors in is surrounding environment

Diane Gromala

- virtual reality goggles helping to relieve pain

- new computerized biofeedback therapies that help patients track, realize their pain

- give patients a way to gain control over suffering

- artist that uses her own body to try and create solutions

- nip/tuck

- chris cunningham's all is full of love

- cyborgs passionately embracing

- communication through a device - stephen hawking