Scott Huh DESMA 9 Week 4: Medicine + Technology + Art

In both medicine and art, observation and intimate understanding of the human body are key components. In order for an artist to reflect and capture the real world, he or she needs to see all the details of a scene to reproduce it. For example, to accurately represent the human body in its many postures, artists need to observe the body more deeply than the surface. According to Vesna, “we are seeing technology moving us more and more into the direction of noninvasive ways of looking into the anatomy of the human body.” Medical technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Cat Scans (CT) have allowed artists to understand the intricate inner workings of the human body. The saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is important for artists because learning how to see what you are looking at is more important than knowing everything.

Leonardo Da Vinci's anatomical sketches

Oliver's family portrait created using MRI slices

One artist’s project that I found fascinating was Mariléne Oliver’s Family Portrait. Oliver used MRI scans of her “family’s bodies’ printed at actual size at regular intervals and then stacked” to offer a life size, real encounter with digital copies of the human body. Oliver used clear and transparent materials with the intent to export the scanned body as purely and cleanly as possible. According to Silvia Casini, “the performative nature of MRI calls for a rethinking of the notion of the portraiture that produces the depicted subject, rather than faithfully reproducing it.” Instead of simply representing an object, MRI images enact the body, anticipate its features, and make it operable.

References:

Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations 19.1 (2011): 73-99. Web.

Jameson, Elizabeth. "Fine Art." Web log post. Jameson Fine Art. N.p., n.d. Web.

Oliver, Marilène. "Artist Statement." Marileneoliver. N.p., n.d. Web. 

Popova, Maria. "A Rare Glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s Anatomical Drawings." Brain Pickings. N.p., 15 Apr. 2017. Web. 

Vesna, Victoria. "Human Body & Medical Technologies Part 2." Lecture.