Medicine + Technology + Art

This week, we analyzed how the arts and medical technology overlap, a connection that I genuinely had never thought about. The two disciplines seemed very different when I first began reading on the topic, but it became clear that the two are connecting in our present day and age through a plethora of ways.

Denis Ducreux, a French radiologist, uses MRI scans to make art
Source: newsroom.gehealthcare.com

In Professor Vesna’s video, Medicine pt2, she speaks very in-depth regarding MRI and CAT scans and how those connect to new forms of art now because these technologies have given us brand new ways of exploring and mapping the human anatomy (uconlineprogram). Casini’s essay also elaborates on this point that MRIs have been integrated into artwork by man artists (Casini). Artists like Elizabeth Jameson have built entire careers around using neuro-imaging/MRI technologies to showcase the human brain as art, influenced heavily with her being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (Tuten). Artists like this really capture the capacity of medical technology to be used in an artistic way and go beyond just their practical use. Jameson aims to “transform her brain scans to spark curiosity and conversation around what it means to live with an imperfect brain and body” (Jameson).

Elizabeth Jameson's BecomingSource: www.jamesonfineart.com

Another topic that stood out to me in Professor Vesna’s lectures was her musings on plastic surgery. Personally, I never saw this as artistic either, but I guess, in a sense, it’s a more practical method of art using one’s body as a canvas. The example given of Orlan is a perfect way of capturing this more avant-garde method of overlapping medicine and art. She has “given birth to herself, dressed up as a saint, carried out several plastic surgeries, and digitally removed her own skin” amongst other things for her art (Leddy). Orlan’s work is not only novel, but it also shows how unique art is and how anything can contribute to the artistic vision, even surgery. It shows a new direction that art is taking, and I think a great example of a dynamic artist that dares to use technology to challenge orthodoxy.

Orlan undergoing surgery for her artistic work
Source: www.artsy.net

Sources:

Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations 19.1 (2011): 73-99. Web.

Jameson, Elizabeth. “Jameson Fine Art.” Jameson Fine Art, www.jamesonfineart.com/.

Leddy, Siobhan. “How ORLAN Turned Plastic Surgery into Feminist Art.” Artsy, 7 Aug. 2017, www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-70-body-modification-artist-orlan-reinventing.

Tuten, Tera. “9 People Who Have Turned Medical Imaging Into Art.” Soliant, 23 July 2013, blog.soliant.com/healthcare-it/technology/9-people-who-have-turned-medical-imaging-into-art/.

uconlineprogram. “Body Medicine intro.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 Mar. 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=44&v=zEgn-fZQ8po.