I was extremely fascinated by this week's topic. I was able to put together a somewhat reasonable connection with technology and art but once I tried making the connection with medicine, I couldn't. After watching this week's lectures/videos and doing the readings my perspective of this entire subject has changed tremendously. I have became amazed about the topic. The human anatomy has always been of interest to me and now even more that I have made the realization that art has so much to do with it. The human body itself is art, it's a beautiful creation. It is amazing what the human body can be put through, the changes that can be done to it, the beauty it creates.
The first lecture mentioned human dissection. Before the lecture, i thought human dissection was something that hadn't been around for long. In contrary, I learned that the start of human dissection goes all the way back to ancient egyptians. This lecture also helped in making another connection between medtech and art. The Human Genome Project and the HMP were said to be very inspiring/influential to artist. Again, I was proven wrong. I would have never believed that genes in the human DNA is something artist were actually fascinated about.
The video which shocked me the most this week was Orlan-Carnal Art. Watching the things she puts herself through in order to create art truly made me understand that there actually are people who see this connection with medicine/technology and art. Many believe that she is just gambling with her life but as the video mentioned, she is actually gambling with the loss of her identity. I am very inspired of Orlan. I have never heard of her before but after this video I have expanded my thinking. Are we really who we are born as?
Sources/links
http://gizmodo.com/5925721/pioneering-wwi-plastic-surgery-was-way-ahead-of-its-time
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/performance-artist-orlan-interview-beauty-surgery_n_2526077.html
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/medart/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/performance-artist-orlan-interview-beauty-surgery_n_2526077.html
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/medart/
Works
Cited
"ORLAN
Talks Plastic Surgery, Beauty Standards And Giving Her Fat To Madonna
(PHOTOS, INTERVIEW, NSFW)." Breaking
News and Opinion on The Huffington Post.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2013.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/29/performance-artist-orlan-interview-beauty-surgery_n_2526077.html>.
"Orlan
- Carnal Art (2001) Documentary - YouTube." YouTube.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no_66MGu0Oo>.
"Plastic
Surgery Art - YouTube." YouTube.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2013.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2BVEQrABF8>.
"Surreal
Watercolor Paintings of Anatomical Self-Dissections - My Modern
Metropolis." My
Modern Metropolis.
N.p., n.d. Web. 15 July 2013.
<http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/danny-quirk-anatomical-self-dissections>.
Vesna,
Victoria. "Medicine Pt1." MedTech and Art. UCLA. UCLA, Los
Angeles. 12 July 2013.
Lecture.
Vesna,
Victoria. "Medicine Pt3." MedTech and Art. UCLA. UCLA, Los
Angeles. 12 July 2013.
Lecture.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that most people in our society associate plastic surgery to its application for superficial modifications; with the prevalence of celebrities getting procedures done for the sake of "beauty", I can't blame our society for thinking that. It is a shame though, since, as you mentioned, plastic surgery is also significantly utilized for correctional procedures such as prosthetic implementations and skin grafts.
I also think your point about identity is also an excellent one that everyone should consider! Indeed, with so many procedures done not only on the surface but also beneath the skin to do procedures like bone shavings, to what extent are we still ourselves after such procedures? This also reminds me of how it was discussed in lecture how many consider the brain to be the only requirement for self-identity, while all other parts can be disposed and still not erase an individual's core sense of self.
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI'm not too sure that even someone who has had, and plans on continuing on doing so, as many superficial surgeries like Orlan is placing their life in danger since they seem like minimally invasive procedures (enough so that she just uses local anesthetic and reads aloud while they take place), but I can't quite say that she's gambling with her identity either. Any sort of person who undergoes plastic surgery or bodily modifications - unless being forced by some relentless individual - expresses themselves having the desire for personal physical change, acting on the desire, and preserving the act of change. Sure, some people may be acting under the pressures of society, but I think that says a lot about those people who wish to belong to the accepted forms of beauty and such, making their plastic surgery a reflection of who they are even if it doesn't exactly represent what they wish their identity manifested as. Plastic surgery is much like videogames and the internet allowing us to make personal digital avatars, just providing a more tactile, semi-permanent version.
Hey there Francis and Karen,
ReplyDeleteKaren, in reality the brain is the only requirement for self-identity. Mostly anything else in your body could be replaced and you will still be considered to be the same person. I guess we can say our brain makes us who we are.
Francis, I respect Orlan because the surgeries she puts herself through all have meaning. For her its not just to fit in into society and look more beautiful but rather much more complex reasons.