Week 4: Medtech + Art

     Perhaps one of the most formative experiences of my youth was going to a exhibit on the human body, with hundreds of displays filled with all of the organs and tissues that make up us all. When I found that being faced with the considerably grosser displays at the exhibition ignited little disgust in me, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the life sciences. The fact that such intricate systems, like the tensegrity structures described by Donald Ingber, naturally evolved by natural selection never fails to amaze me.

A controversial exhibit on the human body. Taken from BBC

     I had not seriously considered the implications of human anatomy as art before this week lecture's-- to me, the exhibition I attended was purely a matter of scientific curiosity. But now I recognize the importance of human anatomy and imaging technologies like X-rays and MRI. As Silvia Casini wrote in an essay about MRI, MRI imaging "functions as a window onto the self" and "prompts onlook-ers to pay attention to itself." I am particularly fascinated by the idea of being able to view your own brain's activity as you think. Using fMRI, scientists can detect a thought forming before the thinker is even aware of it; if the observer of the fMRI and the subject were the same, would that produce something akin to two mirrors facing each other, or feedback from a microphone?

MRI scan of the brain Taken from Wikipedia

    The use of medical technology in art that surprised me the most were the artists that used cosmetic surgery as a performance. People like Kevin Warwick, who implant computer chips into bodies, didn't surprise me too much-- I believe it only a matter of time before implantable technology is adopted by society as a whole, not just for those with medical conditions or disabilities. However, the fact that people today, like the artist Orlan, are making a performance out of surgery and making permanent alterations to their own bodies for the sake of their art really surprised. I've previously speculated about such art in the sci-fi stories I write about people of the future with the technology who could easily and painlessly alter their bodies as they wished-- apparently I need to do a lot more research, because even with today's medical knowledge, there are people willing to undergo surgery to make themselves works of art. I suppose the old saying is true: truth is stranger than fiction.

Orlan Taken from Wikipedia

    Sources: 

Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations Between Science and Arts.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 26 Oct. 2012.

Ingber, Donald E. “The Architecture of Life.” Scientific American, Jan. 1998, pp. 48–57.

Porte, Mireille. ORLAN OFFICIAL WEBSITE , www.orlan.eu/.

Goldhill, Olivia. “Neuroscientists Can Read Brain Activity to Predict Decisions 11 Seconds before People Act.” Quartz, Quartz, 9 Mar. 2019, qz.com/1569158/neuroscientists-read-unconscious-brain-activity-to-predict-decisions/.

Warwick, Kevin. Kevin Warwick, www.kevinwarwick.org/. 

Image Credits: 

“Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 31 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_resonance_imaging_of_the_brain.

“Orlan.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Apr. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orlan.

Mao, Frances. “'Real Bodies' Exhibition Causes Controversy in Australia.” BBC News, BBC, 26 Apr. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-43902524.