Week 4 Blog -- MedTech + Art -- Phoebe Nguyen

In recent years, I have had to have MRIs and CT scans done and was glad that these were available resources/knowledge that doctors would be able to adequately, safely, and non-invasively address my health concerns. Over time, the evolution of how the medical field and artistic fields have overlapped have been great to see through how the art of bodies can be better created with the use of technology. For instance, the medical resource “Gray’s Anatomy” written by Henry Gray has allowed for a better understanding of the human body due to the better visual diagrams in the book (Vesna 4:42). 

This increased desire for the medical field to focus on obtaining more detailed visuals has led to the development of MRI and CT scans which allow for the creation of 3D models of what the human body looks like (Vesna 5:18). 

Increased detail of medical models has led to a better understanding of the body, which in turn allows for better diagnosis and treatment for patients. Kevin Warwick, an English engineer, was able to transmit his neural messages through a chip in his body to send messages to his wife as well as other tasks such as use the internet through his Cyborg 2.0 Project. He strives to work towards developing medical procedures that would directly target Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and more through electronic medicine as the focal solution (Vesna 7:14).  

Who was the first cyborg? | Live Science

Warwick, Kevin. “Kevin Warwick Using a Cyborg Implant to Control a Robot Hand over the Internet.” Who Was the First Cyborg?, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.livescience.com/first-human-cyborg. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

Although these medical understandings have expanded on medical capabilities within the healthcare field, it has also allowed for artists to have a new avenue for expression and storytelling. For example, ORLAN, a French artist, engages with body performance art where she undergoes surgical procedures to reflect what historical artists have defined as “beauty” in different eras (Vesna 6:26). 

ORLAN (as part of The Patient at UNSW Galleries

UNSW. “ORLAN with Markings on Her Face Depicting a Surgical Procedure.” ORLAN (as Part of The Patient at UNSW Galleries), 22 June 2016, https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2016/06/orlan--as-part-of-the-patient-at-unsw-galleries. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

Marta de Menezes is also another artist who uses these biological discoveries as a supplement to her work (Casini 2011). As seen in the image below, de Menezes collaborates with her husband as she explores the idea of Paired Immunity with cancer cells as her medium of art. Overall, the greater degree of creative attention that has been brought towards the concept of the human body has contributed to greater degrees of expression as well as greater abilities of working towards healthcare solutions. 

Paired Immunity - Art Laboratory Berlin

Deussen, Tim. “Immortality for Two, Exhibition View.” Paired Immunity, 2021, https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/exhibitions/paired-immunity/.  Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 


References

Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts.” Configurations, vol. 19, no. 1, 2011, pp. 73–99., https://doi.org/10.1353/con.2011.0008.   

Vesna, Victoria. “Human Body & Medical Technologies” BruinLearn, UC Online, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=5946331. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Human Body & Medical Technologies part 2” BruinLearn, UC Online, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=5946331. 

Vesna, Victoria. “Human Body & Medical Technologies part 3” BruinLearn, UC Online, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=5946331

Vesna, Victoria. “Lecture Part 4” BruinLearn, UC Online, https://bruinlearn.ucla.edu/courses/160989/pages/unit-4-view?module_item_id=5946331. 

Images

Deussen, Tim. “Immortality for Two, Exhibition View.” Paired Immunity, 2021, https://artlaboratory-berlin.org/exhibitions/paired-immunity/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023. 

UNSW. “ORLAN with Markings on Her Face Depicting a Surgical Procedure.” ORLAN (as Part of The Patient at UNSW Galleries), 22 June 2016, https://www.unsw.edu.au/news/2016/06/orlan--as-part-of-the-patient-at-unsw-galleries.  Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

Warwick, Kevin. “Kevin Warwick Using a Cyborg Implant to Control a Robot Hand over the Internet.” Who Was the First Cyborg?, 10 Nov. 2021, https://www.livescience.com/first-human-cyborg. Accessed 28 Apr. 2023.

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