Medical Technology & Art

After this week's lecture on the connection between art and medical technology, my knowledge and understanding of how they could possibly be related has expanded and shifted from almost nothing to more than I could've ever imagined trying to connect them on my own. When I first think of art, I think of paintings, geometry, sculptures, and figures; what I do not think of is bionics, MRI's, X-rays, or plastic surgery. Learning how art is incorporated into medical technology has been beyond interesting as well as the motives and reasons behind the quick advancements in technology sparked by healing through art and WWI and the effect that new modern weapons had on surgeons and doctors in the medical fields whose purpose was to restore livelihood and functionality to those in need. 

Medicine used to be considered art and if you used technology tools you weren't really considered a doctors. This is most surprising and ironic to learn once I read the article on The Hippocratic Oath which clearly states how medical practices have changed over time with the introduction of technology and the ethical debates it now draws to doctors reciting 'versions' of the oath.

(Caduceus on Modern Technology & Medical Technology)

We learned about many fascinating projects and discoveries during lecture this week and there are a few artists whose work really stood out to me that I'd like to share with you all. I will explore Orlan, a French artist and Edwardo Kac, an American artist - both whom used their own bodies as mediums while using science and medical technology to express their art and performances.

Orlan has spent most of her life shocking the science and art worlds by using her own body as a canvas expressing her ideas revolving the difference between cosmetic surgery for beauty and cosmetic surgery as a means to become what you feel inside of yourself. Carnal Art, the art of using your body to represent a self-portrait of yourself is how Orlan explains the meaning behind her numerous plastic surgeries. She just wants to embody the visions of beauty that resonate most with her not to look better, but to embody what each woman stood for in history. In the documentary titled "Carnal Art," Orlan's motivation is said to come from "not to become more beautiful, as is the motivation behind cosmetic surgery, but simply to become other, to find a new normality in the difference." 

              

    (Orlan, Carnal Art)                                                        (Cosmetic Surgery)

Next, Edwardo Kac has also been an artist at the forefront of medical technology and art and I believe that it is his foresight into GPS and the tracking of humans that put him there. Edwardo was the first person to ever insert a tracking chip into his body with a RFID tag normally used only on animals at the time. He created a huge debate over this which is funny since today every human being with a smartphone is being tracked using the same system Edwardo used. Another one of Edwardo's scientific art designs that I really liked is his Aromapoetry. Aromapoetry is "a book to read with the nose," Kac states and how science is involved in his art by stating that"every poem in the book Aromapoetry employs nanotechnology by binding an extremely thin layer of porous glass (200 nanometers thick) to every page, trapping the odorants (i.e. the volatile molecules) and releasing them very slowly. Without this nanotechnology, the fragrances would quickly dissipate and the smells would no longer be experienced after a few days."

                         

(Edwardo's Aromapoetry)

Sources:

 "AROMAPOETRY." AROMAPOETRY. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

"Carnal Art." Carnal Art. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

"Finding a Good Cosmetic Surgeon in the City - The Healthy Voyager." The Healthy Voyager. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

MutleeIsTheAntiGod. "Orlan - Carnal Art (2001) Documentary." YouTube. YouTube, 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

"Stock Photography: Search Royalty Free Images & Photos - IStock." Stock Photography: Search Royalty Free Images & Photos - IStock. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.

Tyson, Peter. "The Hippocratic Oath Today." PBS. PBS, 2001. Web. 24 Apr. 2016.