This week’s topic, “Medicine + Technology + Art,” changed
what I already knew about basic biology and science into something much deeper
than just the facts behind it. As a science major, at first it was confusing to
comprehend why someone would want to get an MRI without a medical need to, or
how artists could possibly be inspired by thin slices of a cadaver. Through the
lecture videos, I better understood how inspiration and eventually art could
come out of something so densely scientific (Vesna). For example, I learned about MRI’s
in my physics course: it’s just a large solenoid that creates a magnetic field.
Therefore, this was the extent to how I thought about the MRI scan, never
taking an artistic approach to this revolutionary technology to see how it
could encourage a form of expression. Silvia Casini’s interpretation of an MRI
as an acoustic experience was quite interesting; she explores how your sense of
hearing sharpens when you cannot see your own body while inside the scanner and
how that affects your emotions during a scan (Casini 86).
The Visible Human Project is another project that has inspired artists through the years. The project aimed to photograph the cross sections of both the male and female body to see what could be learned from them. The male cross sections were partitioned every 1 mm and the female cross sections every .33 mm and published online ("The Visible Human Project"). Artists like Lisa Nilsson saw the project in a different light; she stated, "It just has lots of visual impact. The shapes and colors are just beautiful" (Freeman) and in response, created paper sculpture versions of the cadavers.
Upon further research,
I came across Eduardo Kac’s “Time Capsule” piece in which he inserted a microchip, that traditionally has been used to track lost animals, into his own leg in front of
an audience, a doctor, and viewers of the broadcast. The piece aims to provoke
a conversation about technology’s ever growing role in human life (Kac). He asks if we
have become extensions of our computers rather than the other way around (Kac). By
inserting the microchip into his body, he is making a statement on technology’s
role in a new era of individuality.
REFERENCES
Ainali, Jan. Medical MRI Scanner. Digital image. Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2008. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations 19.1 (2011): 73-99. Web.
Freeman, David. "Lisa Nilsson's Paper Art Inspired By Virtual Human Project's Cadaver Cross-Sections." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Kac, Eduardo. "Time Capsule." Time Capsule. KAC. KAC, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Kac, Eduardo. Time Capsule. Digital image. KAC. KAC, n.d. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Nilsson, Lisa. Paper art cross sections. Digital image. Huffington Post. Huffington Post, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
"The Visible Human Project - Getting the Data." U.S. National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Nov. 1994. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
Vesna, Victoria. "Unit 4." DESMA 9. United States, Los Angeles. 26 Apr. 2015. Lecture.
Hi Madison!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! As a fellow science major, I too had only thought of MRIs as what they are for scientific purposes and I and never stopped to think about how they could be used by artists. Your reference to Casini's interpretation to the MRI being an acoustic experience is quite interesting. I also really like your picture of the artist who made a paper sculpture using influence of a cadaver. I had never thought of medicine and art interacting before this week and enjoyed reading about your examples and seeing your pictures. Great post!