Week 4: MedTech + Art

I really enjoyed this week. It is so fascinating to me that two completely different disciplines such as Medicine and art can come together and have such a powerful influence on how far we have come with research and our understanding of medicine. The human body has always been a deep fascination and combining the power of art, technology and medicine allowed for both doctors and artists to advance in imaging the body from drawing dissections by hand to technologically advanced 3D scans allowing for us to get a better understanding of our body’s anatomy. 

 

Lecture three, part three left the most impression on me. I feel it poses the question as to whether plastic surgery is a true form of art. I personally believe this can be answered with two sides. Particularly, Orlan left an uneasy impression on me. Firstly, I do believe it is an art form due to having the skill and ability to sculpt a part of the human body however only in the sense of reconstructing for the purpose of medical treatment. Emerging from WWI, physicians at the time had to treat a lot of fatal injuries caused by the damage of war. The destructions and fatalities caused by war was a primary factor in the advances in medical professions (Vesna). Using the accumulation of art, technology and medicine huge innovations emerged, such as prosthetic and bionic limbs for those who had lost limbs returning from war. Now secondly, I believe that such an innovative breakthrough in medicine should not be used for aesthetic reasons. Orlan’s ‘performative’ use of plastic surgery in my opinion is unethical. Today, it is so common generally in the older generation to receive plastic surgery in order to hinder their natural aging process and make them more aesthetically “beautiful.” I strongly believe that such an amazing advancement in technology should be used honorably amongst those with genuine medical disabilities that will better there over all health and mobility. Surgery is definitely an art and surgeons themselves are masters in their craft.

Works Cited:

Lecture Part 1,2,3. Perf. Victoria Vesna. Medicine + Technology + Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2015.

Neurogadget. N.p., n.d. Web. <http%3A%2F%2Fneurogadget.com%2F2013%2F12%2F11%2Fsoldier-talks-thought-controlled-bionic-arm-video%2F9154>.

"Anatomy of Male Muscular System - Posterior and Anterior View - Full Body – Didactic." Depositphotos. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://depositphotos.com/14814419/stock-photo-anatomy-of-male-muscular-system.html>.

"CT Brain Perfusion." Cedars-Senai. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/Patients/Programs-and-Services/Imaging-Center/For-Physicians/Neuroradiology/CT-Brain-Perfusion.aspx>.