Week 4: MedTech + Art

http://misscounselors.blogspot.com/2015/04/body-works-exhibit.html    

I believe that the human body itself is a work of art.  I also believe that the work doctors are able to do, through medical procedures, to correct damages done and return the body to its original, healthy state, are works of art. However, when medical procedures are unnecessary, solely for beauty reasons, or potentially detrimental to one’s health, should no longer be considered works of art.

Many medical advances are largely attributable to the imaging techniques made available starting in the 20^th century.  Before MRIs, Cat Scans, and Xrays, the use of exploratory surgery was widespread because the doctors could only guess the cause of the problem.  This “photography” of the internal systems of the body can be seen as artwork.  Virgil Wong incorporates imaging of bodies into his pieces.  However, MRI, Cat Scans, and Xrays can also be perceived as reproductions of the original work of art, the body. Walter Benjamin would argue that these images create a lost “aura.” 

http://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/scan.jpg

The ideal or perfect body has evolved over time.  Sometimes the ideal to an individual is unattainable and one resorts to plastic surgery to obtain the desired results.Plastic surgery can be used for noble, artistic procedures, but it can also cross the line when it is used for extreme body modification.  Orlan is an artist and performer who takes the combination of art, medicine, and technology to a whole new level.  She aims to “sculpt [her] own body to reinvent the self.” I believe that her live medical procedures in front of an audience can no longer be classified as art.  This plastic surgery is an example of how the original work of art, the body, can be mutilated and “aura” can be lost.

http://oldsite.english.ucsb.edu/faculty/ecook/courses/eng114em/endoforlan.htm

Benjamin, Walter. “The Work of Art in Age of Mechanical Reproduction.” Marxists. N.p.. Web. 18 April 2015. <http://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/ge/benjamin.htm>.

Jeffries, Stuart. “Orlan’s Art of Sex and Surgery.” The Guardian, 9 June 2009. Web. 22 April 2015. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/jul/01/orlan-performance-artist-carnal-art

Orlan – Carnal Art (2001) Documentary. Dir. Stéphan Oriach. Perf. Orlan. N.d. Film. YouTube. Web. 22 April. 2015. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=no_66MGu0Oo>.

Vensa, Victoria. MedTech + Art Lecture. UCOnline. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk> <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>

Wong, Virgil. “Art Exhibited in Galleries and Museums around the World.” Art. N.p., 2012. Web. 22 April 2015. <http://virgilwong.com/art/>