Week 4: Medical Technologies + Art

This week’s materials covered the rise of medical technologies and art, and the relationship to the unique allure of the human body. I was especially intrigued by the development of understanding human anatomy through medical experimentation from the information provided in this week's lecture.The fascination and beauty found within the human body has been observed and explored for hundreds of years and is still very much prevalent in many ways today. 

During the renaissance period, highly respected artists were commissioned to perform detailed dissections while sketching their discoveries, ultimately contributing to some of the most intricate and nuanced work in the medical field at the time. The ability to accurately and artistically depict the inside of the human body publicly transformed the way society viewed and thought of our own bodies, while also showcasing its natural beauty and need for further study. 

DaVinci Illustration of cadaver Illustration, courtesy of pbs.org

Later, in the mid 19th century, the introduction of Gray’s Anatomy became wildly popular outside of its intended medical audience as artists became drawn to this book for its intriguing and beautiful illustrations detailing the human body. Having a wildly available and accepting book on anatomy further shifted the perception of the body and encouraged people from all backgrounds to consider the art within ourselves.

Eventually, we come to see artists such as ORLAN, whose work challenges the intersection of medicine and artwork as she physically alters her body through plastic surgery to attain classically desirable features. ORLAN’s work has molded together the ancient fascinations to the human body with more contemporary technologies that allow for modification to our outward appearance.

ORLAN undergoing medical alternations in front of a live audience, courtesy of Lecture part 3

And more recently, with technology advancing at a rate faster than ever before, we are observing artists continue to push what the human body is capable of through medical additions. Artists such as STELARC and Edwardo Kac have experimented with medical technologies that allow for human body additions to increase our ability to interact with the world and technology all around us.

Image of STELARC and his Third Arm attached, courtesy of stelarc.org

The transition from first documenting human anatomy to eventual experimentation and technological addition can seem like a big leap forward in terms of our ability to implement these technologies into society. However, when studying some of these medical artists through time, many of these once experimental technologies and procedures have now become standard medical procedures, including microchipping, plastic surgery, and electronic additions. All of these works challenged the intersection of where medicine and art collide, furthering the need to understand the human body while also validating the work still to be done by artists within this field.

Sources:

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. PubMed, https://doi.org/10.1353/con.2011.0008.

Hogan, Corinne. “Gray’s Anatomy Descriptive and Applied: The Greatest Account of Anatomical Understanding Available.” Royal College of Surgeons, 17 Aug. 2018, https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/library-and-publications/library/blog/grays-anatomy-descriptive-and-applied/.

Jones, Roger. “Leonardo Da Vinci: Anatomist.” The British Journal of General Practice, vol. 62, no. 599, June 2012, p. 319. PubMed Central, https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp12X649241.

Mason, Luke R. “Cyborg Experiments w/ Prof. Kevin Warwick.” FUTURES Podcast, https://futurespodcast.net/episodes/01-kevinwarwick. Accessed 22 Apr. 2022.

“Orlan.” Orlan, https://www.orlan.net/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2022.

Riley, Shantal. Anatomy Professor Uses 500-Year-Old Da Vinci Drawings to Guide Cadaver Dissection. 12 Nov. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/leonardo-da-vinci-anatomy-dissection/.

The Hippocratic Oath Today. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/hippocratic-oath-today/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2022.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture: Human Body & Medical Technologies." DESMA 9, 20 April 2022, UCLA, Bruinlearn, Unit 4

Week 3: Robotics + Art

 This week our lectures and associated materials covered topics of industrialization in terms of the mechanization and widespread distribution of art. The birth of mechanization began with the invention of the printing press and metal movable type, credited to Gutenberg but originally created by the Chinese, that increased page production from around 40 pages per day to upwards of 3,500. This stark expansion in the reproduction of written works cultivated a new way of information sharing, as it now allowed for rapid dispersion of knowledge, religion, and scientific discoveries. 

Original Printing Press, Courtesy of HISTORY.com

It was the innovation set forth by the printing press and the use of mechanization that transformed the way in which many handmade items were made, including the arts. Walter Benjamin examines the role of mechanization in the art realm and what replicated or copied art signifies about the piece itself. Benjamin argues that “the uniqueness of a work of art is inseparable from its being embedded in the fabric of tradition” and that by changing the way by which art is produced we are inherently changing the aura, the ritual, and the meaning for which the piece was constructed. This discussion also comes at a time of emerging art fields such as photography and eventually film, in which the basis of these mediums’ rely on prints or replicas, permanently changing what it means to be authentic while also reconsidering values behind traditional art making.

Mechanization of textile production, Courtesy of Fine Art America

The evolution of art creation as well as the way in which we appreciate art could not have occurred without industrialization, mechanization, and eventually widespread technology. I argue that this transformed way of making and viewing art with the aid of technology and mechanization is beneficial as it allows for worldwide accessibility to view the piece. I also am aware of how this new technology and use of digital or duplicated work can result in a loss of traditional authenticity or sense of uniqueness. Overall, the inevitability of this changing field in light of mechanization and industrialization allows for more information, artwork, and techniques to be shared and enjoyed amongst a worldwide audience, globally expanding our artistic network and furthering the development of new art forms.

Video of how art can be replicated today using 3D technology, Courtesy of FastCompany.com

Sources:

Benjamin, Walter. "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." 1936.

Davis, Douglas. “The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Reproduction (An Evolving Thesis: 1991-1995).” Leonardo, vol. 28, no. 5, 1995, pp. 381–86. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1576221.

Diaz, Jesus. “We’re Entering a New Era of Cheap and Perfect Knock-off Art.” Fast Company, 29 Nov. 2018, https://www.fastcompany.com/90272935/were-entering-a-wild-new-era-of-cheap-and-perfect-knock-off-art.

“Mechanization Art.” Fine Art America, https://fineartamerica.com/art/mechanization. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

Mirenfred. Dirk the Homeless Robot/Www.Electric-Circus.Eu. 2008. YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HfmKXfp394.

Roemer, Robin. Chapter 08 - Mechanization of the Printing Press. p. 11.

Roos, Dave. “7 Ways the Printing Press Changed the World.” HISTORY, https://www.history.com/news/printing-press-renaissance. Accessed 14 Apr. 2022.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lectures Part 1." DESMA 9, 11 April 2022, UCLA, Bruinwalk, Unit 3.

Event 1: BioArt

 The event I attended this week explored the applications and possibilities of utilizing technology to enhance our biological experience, while also highlighting some fascinating equipment already being engineered to see just how far we can intertwine math, technology, and biology. 

Depiction of how the technological advances work to correlate the senses, courtesy of BioArt event by Aisen Caro Chacin

    This week's speaker, Aisen Car Chacin, does work that wonderfully highlights the intersection between technology, art, and science by pushing the boundaries on just how far we can take and enhance our biological senses. Chacin discusses her many projects throughout her career, all focussed around the central idea of utilizing technology as a prosthetic to intensify the ability to perceive or transverse through life. Her interventions both intensify and provide new ability to patients that would otherwise not have such a sensation. In doing so, Chacin is reimagining the future body and the functions we perceive as “normal”. 

An example of the type of inventions made is shown above. A grill that can be used to listen to music through your teeth, courtesy of Aisencarochacin.com

Chacin also focuses on the artistic and approachability of her inventions, noting that the technology not only should be useful and empower more diverse realities, but they should also be approachable to the consumer audience. Here is where the artistic aspect comes into play and the necessity of building ideas and projects to accommodate the larger goal, even in an extremely technical job.

Image of Stelarc with ear transplant on forearm to reimagine body engineering, courtesy of Radio National

This event is definitely something that I would recommend to fellow classmates, as it was an exceptional example of the merging between three seemingly disparate fields into a very fascinating and nuanced way of reimagining the human body and its relationship with technology.

Image of Aisen Caro Checin, courtesy of UCLA Sci Center + Lab

Sources:

Aisen Caro Chacin | UCLA Art | Sci Center + Lab. https://artsci.ucla.edu/node/1345. Accessed 8 Apr. 2022.

Aisen Caro Chacin. http://www.aisencaro.com/play-a-grill.html. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

Aisen Caro Chacin - 2 Artworks, Bio & Shows on Artsy. https://www.artsy.net/artist/aisen-caro-chacin. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

BioArt + Assistive Device Art: Transformation of Ability and Perception, the Plasticity of the Mind, and Human Expansion - Sanctuary For Independent Media. https://www.mediasanctuary.org/event/bioart-assistive-device-art-transformation-of-ability-and-perception-the-plasticity-of-the-mind-and-human-expansion/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

“STELARC: EAR ON ARM.” Radio National, 21 Mar. 2012, https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/bodysphere/stelarc-ear-on-arm/3903988.

SVA Bio Art Lab – Art & Science. SVA BFA Fine Arts – New York City. https://bioart.sva.edu/. Accessed 12 Apr. 2022.

“Champagne for the Blind: Paul Bach-y-Rita, Neuroscience’s Forgotten Genius.” MIT Comparative Media Studies/Writing, 1 Sept. 2013, https://cmsw.mit.edu/paul-bach-y-rita-neurosciences-forgotten-genius/.

Tuuri, Kai, and Oskari Koskela. “Understanding Human–Technology Relations Within Technologization and Appification of Musicality.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 11, 2020. Frontiers, https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00416.

Proof of attendance

Week 2: Math + Art

I found this week's material to be quite eye-opening as we explored just how closely related science and art truly are.

Architectural Geometric Beadwork, courtesy of beadmobile.wordpress.com

Until the Henderson reading I have previously not considered how the fourth dimension became realized and the time and consideration it took to land upon an agreed concept and framework in which to define it. The amount of collaboration across artists of many fields to agree and modernize the language, beliefs, and future of art as they knew it took extreme courage. The fourth dimension, as Henderson says, challenges the many long-standing ‘truths’ to which artists functioned, and rethinks their reality as entering new territory.

Visualizing the Fourth Dimension, courtesy of Duke Research Blog

Flatland, by Edwin A. Abbott, explores the ideas surrounding perspective through the storytelling of geometric shapes living in a two-dimensional world. The limitations set forth by each own’s perspective have an immense impact on their ability to understand and think deeper about the third dimension, resulting in fear and discouragement to explore the unknown. This analogy relates to Henderson’s piece and the overwhelming sense of fear many people experience with the oncoming of change, or something new that shifts their perspective. Taken together, I’ve learned that it requires a combination of math and science to create accurate, modern, and relevant art, while also requiring art to showcase the fascinating new perspectives resulting from high math and science. A great example of this is the high math craft used to create exceptionally intricate and realistic models through artwork.

Toxic Reef and Mathematics Blackboard, courtesy of crochetcoralreef.org

In the resources for this week I was drawn to the crochet coral reef, a project aimed to emulate and bring awareness to the intricate and time-consuming work performed in nature that is currently being threatened by climate change. Here, the artists imitate the natural hyperbolic shapes created by living organisms as a way to incorporate the most accurate depiction of true coral, while also challenging the mathematical perspective of hyperbolic shapes. This particular art claims that in making mathematical structures you are doing mathematics, just as is done in nature, and further highlights the necessity of math to produce art.

Coral Forest, courtesy of crochetcoralreef.org

The juxtaposition of art, math, and science are quite intertwined. Math itself is an art form, and science and the natural world display organic examples of mathematics and artistic displays all around us. The observer requires a perspective willing to accept the merging of three disciplines as one.

Sources:

Abbott, Edwin A. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. New York: Dover Publications, 1884.

ART+COM Studios. https://artcom.de/en/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2022.

Center, Art|Sci. DESMA 9 Week 2 Featuring Kate McKinnon. 2021. Vimeo, https://vimeo.com/533410774.

“CONTEMPORARY GEOMETRIC BEADWORK.” CONTEMPORARY GEOMETRIC BEADWORK, https://beadmobile.wordpress.com/. Accessed 8 Apr. 2022.

Crochet Coral Reef. https://crochetcoralreef.org/about/theproject/. Accessed 7 Apr. 2022.

Frantz, Marc. Lesson 3: Vanishing Points and Looking at Art. p. 11.

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 3, 1984, pp. 205–10. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1575193.

“Visualizing the Fourth Dimension.” Research Blog, 26 Apr. 2017, https://researchblog.duke.edu/2017/04/26/visualizing-the-fourth-dimension/.