Week 4: MedTech+Art

I never thought that medical technology and art have such strong correlations before this week. They seemed to me two totally disjoint subjects. But after some thinking, there are indeed fundamental connections among them.


Art is about representations of objects, either real or virtual. Medical technology is about improving the understanding of human bodies and medical treatments. One intersection between these two subjects is the representation of human body, which was already popular back in ancient times. Back then, people got to know about human body by dissecting cadavers. This was both difficult and not truly moral according to Hippocrates’ Oath. Dissection cannot provide an overall image of the inside of a body. But with the invention of X-rays, people were able to get images of human body from many different angles without dissecting them. The structure of the bones became surprisingly clear under the X-rays. Multiple images together can give a comprehensive description of the body.


Plastic surgery also relates medical technology and arts. I was surprised to now that plastic surgery was first invented due to wars. This would suggest that the intention was purely medical originally. But as we see from the lecture, Orlan changed her appearance through plastic surgery for artistic purposes. Moreover, plastic surgery has developed into cosmetic surgery, which aims to improve one’s appearance. I think it is legitimate to include this as an artistic practice. Medical advancements created those little chips that can go inside our skins. As we see from the lecture, these chips are already employed by artists. So the interaction between art and medical technology will surely exceed our imagination.







Reference
Vesna, Victoria. Lecture in Medicine+Technology+Art Part 2. N.p. N.d.
       https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/684222/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=11226152
Vesna, Victoria. Lecture in Medicine+Technology+Art Part 3 . N.p. N.d.
       https://cole2.uconline.edu/courses/684222/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=11226152
Tyson, Peter. The Hippocratic Oath Today. Mar. 27, 2001.
       http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html
Unknown. X-Ray Imaging. N.p. N.d.
       http://www.envrad.com/images/header-x-ray.jpg
Unknown. Gloved Hands Against Face of Woman with Drawn Markings for Surgery. N.p. N.d.
        http://images.wisegeek.com/gloved-hands-against-face-of-woman-with-drawn-markings-for-surgery.jpg
Unknown. Human Chipping Dannion Brinkley. N.p. N.d.
        http://gainesvillescene.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/human-chipping-dannion-brinkley.png


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