Week 4: Medicine + Technology + Art
Andrea Streips
Throughout lecture over the past 4 weeks, I have developed a
deeper understanding about art and how it can interconnect with science, math,
and robots. This week, Professor Vesna delves into how science technology has a
huge influence on medicine and how human beings have shifted through
biotechnology and nanotechnology. I can see how the lecture on robots foils
into this week’s lecture through the way humans have the ability to alter their
body through plastic surgery. There is
definitely a side to art when a surgeon is performing plastic surgery on a nose
because the plastic surgeon will “assess the patient’s nose and then
redesign
it the way they believe will look aesthetically pleasing to the eye”(Cotter).
I found an instant connection between MRI’s, x-rays, and CAT
scans as a form of art through photography.
Todorovic also demonstrates an interconnection with art and
medicine as he focuses on female beauty and cosmetic byproduct wastes shines a
light on a surgical procedure in a completely contemporary way, which reveals
an artistic aspect while simultaneously discussing a social problem. Laramee’s installation is also is a form of
artwork that is meant to reveal the medical/technological sphere. Through her
work we can understand the repercussions of atomic radiation and how those who
have actually been affected by atomic radiation now have genetic causalities
and could now be more prone to have cancer. 
I
thoroughly enjoyed Gromala in her TEDx talk on the virtual reality. She
explains how virtual reality is a way to help cope with pain that interrelates
medical knowledge, art, and technological advances that can decrease the
suffering of human beings. This week truly opened my eyes about the
technological advances in medicine that is built on art.
Work Cited:
Cotter, Holland.
"Artist’s Life: Cut, Nip and Tuck." The New York Times 19
Apr. 2009, Art Review sec.: C1. The New York Times. Web. 26 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/20/arts/design/20apex.html?_r=0>.
Gromala, Diane. "TEDxAmericanRiviera - Diane Gromala -
Curative Powers of Wet, Raw Beauty." YouTube. YouTube, 7 Dec. 2011. Web.
24 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRdarMz--Pw>.
"Diane Gromala." Government of Canada, Industry
Canada, Canada Research Chairs. N.p., 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
<http://www.chairs-chaires.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/profile-eng.aspx?profileId=2457>.
Vesna,
Victoria. “Medicine, Technology and Art.” Cole UC online. Youtube, 24 April
2015. Lecture.
Andree Laramee, Eve. "Halfway to Invisible." Halfway to
Invisible. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
<http://halfwaytoinvisible.blogspot.com/>.
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteThis week also opened my eyes to the many ways that medical procedures such as plastic surgery or cosmetics are a product of art. All these advancements in medicine have a foundation in art and our society these days are becoming more and more superficial that these procedures are more and more relevant. Art is a form of self-expression and the way that human beings see themselves is easily altered through medical technology.