Weebly



Visualization of the Inner Body: From the Everyday to the ExtraordinaryIntroductionArtist Annette Messager once stated, “I believe an artist doesn’t create something, but is there to sort through, to show, to point out what already exits…” By this she means that artists do not invent anything new but instead bring attention to pieces of the everyday that are constantly overlooked and sometimes taken for granted. The everyday is a large part of visual culture and has been addressed by different visual culture scholars like Ben Highmore and Stephen Johnstone. Highmore focuses on many different aspects of the everyday while Johnstone addresses the everyday within contemporary artwork. While Messager gives a general idea about artists and their relationship to the everyday, she does not address what happens to the subject when someone brings attention to it. How does the everyday change when it becomes visualized? Since the everyday covers a variety of subjects, it is necessary to narrow it down in order to address this question. The inner body, while not commonly thought of this way, is an example of the everyday according to the descriptions given by Johnstone and mostly by Highmore. It plays a role in people’s lives on a daily basis and can change depending on whose everyday is discussed. The inner body also commonly remains hidden which makes it even more mysterious and appealing. Although the inner body is a part of the everyday, when it becomes visualized through medical technology, science and artwork, it becomes extraordinary. Through medical technology and science, the visualization is aesthetically pleasing but is mostly viewed as a resource for educational purposes. Learning and practicing professionals in the medical and scientific fields have come a long way in regards to the ability to see the inner body and so have those outside of these specific fields. From learning about the relationships between neurons to developing a body exhibit for the public, this visualization has created a better way for all people to learn about what goes on underneath their skin.Although visualization of the inner body by artists can also create a learning experience, the astonishing image becomes more of an aesthetically pleasing interaction. Artists like Leonardo da Vinci, Andrew Carnie and David Becker use realistic interpretations to develop intriguing imagery that can educate the viewer but mostly draws them in through pure beauty and mysticism. Susan Emmerson on the other hand, uses the inner body in a more abstracted form yet it creates a similar reaction. The body has also been represented in a way that was intended to educate people about their bodies but was so visually stunning it was viewed as a type of artwork. Through realism or abstraction, the work allows us to peak into an unknown world that ironically exists as an everyday part of our lives. It mostly remains hidden day to day but once it becomes noticed and visualized it becomes astonishing. Without it, we would not exist and once we get a glimpse at what is happening underneath our skin, we want to know more. The Everyday and the Inner BodyBefore fully understanding the magical and spectacular experience produced through visualization, one must understand the everyday in relation to visual culture. Ben Highmore, a scholar of cultural studies, provides a better understanding of what the everyday is by first addressing what it is not. In the introduction of his book The Everyday Life Reader, Highmore gives examples of what is not a part of the everyday by writing “Lightning striking TV sets for instance, or your numbers winning the national lottery”. While the process of buying a lottery ticket is the everyday, winning the jackpot is considered “exceptional”. The same goes for the act of unplugging your TV in preparation for the rare chance lighting will strike it while you sleep. The everyday consists of these types of routines that make up daily life. At the same time, these routines may differ depending on the person. While one person buys a lottery ticket everyday another may have no interest in playing those odds.Although everyone takes part in some sort of daily activity, the routine changes depending on whose everyday is being addressed. Highmore discusses these situations by breaking them into different “tendencies” that play a role in a variety of people’s lives. From particular verses general to micro-cultural (Feminine verses Masculine) verses macro-cultural (individual experience verses global experience) the everyday involves a wide range of variables. Since the everyday is so broad, the basic idea of whose everyday can be discussed through gender roles or micro-cultural areas. Through micro-cultural location in western society, history tells us that the feminine everyday is defined by domesticity while the masculine everyday is one of the fl?neur who spends time in the street and public spaces. The domestic side represents a more repetitive routine where as the masculine everyday is considered heroic and adventurous. While fortunately, Western women today have a choice of whether or not they want to be a part of a “feminine” or “masculine” everyday, there is still a difference between the activities depending on whose everyday. A domestic role for instance, may consist of the routine of buying groceries, cleaning, and cooking meals. A “masculine” role however, will allow the person to be a working member of society whose everyday has more of a chance to become part of the exceptional. A fireman or firewoman for example takes part in routines that remain part of their daily life but each fire they are called to can create a different extraordinary experience.After having a better understanding of the everyday, one might ask what any of this has to do with the inner body. Since the inner body exists in everyday life, the real question to ask is how could it not be a part of the discussion? Even though it is not visible on a daily basis, it still exists in our daily lives and without it our everyday wouldn’t be possible. The inner body includes everything from our skeletal structure to our organs and blood as well as what can’t be seen with the naked eye; blood cells and neurons for example. The rarity of visualization of the inner body is another example proving it is a part of the everyday. Johnstone describes the everyday as existing all around us while at the same time it exists nowhere. This is due to us simply not caring enough to look deeper or our complete inability to see. Highmore also makes a statement that can refer to the inner body in relation to the everyday. In the first chapter of Everyday Life and Cultural Theory, he writes, “The everyday is also the home of the bizarre and mysterious”. While we know more about our bodies today than we did in the past and there are still parts we can’t see or do not understand, it too remains bizarre and mysterious. The inner body also changes depending on whose everyday. For a healthy individual, the inner body goes through routines and perhaps they do not have to think about what is happening on the inside. The body functions as it should and there is no thought process that goes into routine jobs like breathing or the heartbeat. While typically one does not have to put effort into making their inner body function, the everyday changes when it goes from a healthy individual to an unhealthy individual. When looking at someone with Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) for example, the relationship to their inner body shifts dramatically from someone with a normal heart. They have to be more cautious about what they eat and how they move which alters their everyday routine. For instance, those with CHF may be limited when it comes to taking part in simple daily activities like cleaning or walking. This then lowers their level of activity and changes their everyday experience. A similar shift will occur for each type of ailment depending on what part of the body is at risk.The amount of visibility of the inner body day to day also refers to whose everyday in terms of their occupation. While most people do not come in contact with the inner body on a regular basis, someone in the medical profession does. A surgeon for example, whose job not only depends on thinking about the inner body, will also be involved in seeing and touching the inner body more than someone who works outside of the profession. A doctor who works outside of the operating room will also be more aware of the inner body but in a different way. A pediatrician for example, may not see the inner body regularly but will think about it throughout the day. They spend their day with a variety of patients who all have different needs. The pediatrician is responsible to responding to those needs and in order to do so will be thinking about what his happening inside of the body. Although it becomes second nature to them, they still end up spending more time thinking about the inner body than a person who works outside of that profession does. Visualization through Medical Technology and ScienceAfter understanding the relationship between the inner body and the everyday, it is necessary to take a closer look at how the visualization of the inner body becomes extraordinary. Lisa Cartwright, scholar of subjects from film to visual culture, writes about the visualization of the body in her book Screening the Body. Although the book mostly discusses visualization through cinema, it can apply to any type of image of the body. She references Foucault who stated that “the shift from eighteenth-century natural history to nineteenth-century biology is marked by a change in relationship between representations and things.” Based on his statement, she feels that life moves forward through a “new mode of representation.” Without our ability to visualize any form of biology including but not limited to the inner body, we would not be able learn thus inhibiting our ability to move forward in life. With the urge to discover more about our bodies, different devices were created along the way to expand our knowledge. According to Dr. Michael E. Phelps, one developer of the original PET scan, “The greatest turning points in science come by the development of a new instrument to allow one to look at things that you have never seen before.” The more we were able to visual the seemingly invisible, the more knowledge we gained. Some of these helpful instruments include the sphygmoscope, a device used to visualize the pulse and the myograph which records muscular contractions. There were also many contributions from French photographer, Etienne- Jules Marey. Marey, who was actually a trained physician, worked with movement of the body and many consider him to be the first creator of motion film. He invented the fusil photographique in 1882 which was a camera that took multiple pictures at 1/720 of a second. Once the photographs were combined, the image appeared to be moving. His technique eventually developed into cinematography which was adopted into the world of science used to study different body parts of animals. In 1898 for example, research Ludwig Braun filmed an exposed beating heart of a dog in order to investigate the hearts contractions. Even now the images are rather stunning and it’s hard to imagine the reaction created when they were first shown. Another important invention in regards to medical technology is the X-ray. While machines like the X-ray have produced images that have become more commonly visible, the experience with them is astonishing and was even more spectacular when they were first introduced to the world. The first X-ray’s were taken in 1895 by a man named Wilhelm Roentgen. Roentgen received his degree in mechanical engineering but was also interested in photography and physics. His invention created the first visual of the skeletal structure and organs within the body without using dissection. This image was the hand of Roentgen’s wife (Figure 1) and was so marvelous it was reprinted in no less than 1,100 publications and worked its way around the world. Try to imagine only understanding the body, if at all, through images created by studying a corpse and then seeing an X-Ray for the first time. It was an incredible image that opened a door to a whole new world. These images were so incredible, they even impacted writers. In The Magic Mountain, written by Thomas Mann in 1924, he describes witnessing an X-Ray being taken through the eyes of his main character, Hans Castorp. He writes:Hans Castorp saw exactly what he should have expected to see, but which no man was ever intended to see and which he himself had never presumed he would be able to see: he saw his own grave. Under that light, he saw the process of corruption anticipated, saw the flesh in which he moved decomposed, expunged, dissolved into airy nothingness- and inside was the delicately turned skeleton of his right hand…Mann was clearly mystified by the possibility of seeing through the flesh and to the bone. It was so bizarre that he even created a connection between life and death.Although currently images from an X-Ray are more commonly seen, this does not lessen the amazing experience one has with their own X-Ray. For instance popular hospital television shows like E.R. and crime dramas like CSI often show images of an MRI or an X-ray but they are either fake or have no connection to the viewer . Someone may see these images on television everyday but when they come into contact with their own, it is a bizarre experience. If a person broke their wrist for example, and received an x-ray, it would be an image of their wrist not just some character on a television show. This would then develop a personal connection with the image which doesn’t happen through images from the media. Even if the person had a serious problem with injuries they would be encountering a different bone, a different break or a different tear thus becoming an abnormal experience.For someone like Roentgen, science was a way for the world to expand its knowledge and through his experiments he was able to create images that would do just that. Since the images were so appealing, people wanted to create some of their own which taught them the process of taking an X-Ray. X-Rays also became a forensics tool that would teach the jury the truth. In order to make a case, prosecutors could now bring in an X-Ray to show foreign objects lodged inside a part of the body. The X-ray has been used in many different ways but currently it seems to be most helpful in medical situations. It can be a guide to direct a surgeon where to operate or show the depth of a break in a bone. No matter the reason, the image has taught people for years and continues to do so. Another machine that produces images of the inner body is an ultrasound. For a pregnant woman, an ultrasound will show the sonogram of a life forming inside of her body. This visualization becomes quite extraordinary especially to new parents. While the new mother can feel shifts in her body she may not fully understand the process until it is visualized. While discussing her first ultrasound, one new mother described it as an exciting experience that “opened a whole world of possibility.” A later ultrasound included the heartbeat which was the first movement of her child that became visible and completely changed how she viewed the process. Knowing she was pregnant was a different experience from actually seeing it. As soon as she saw even the small bean like image she immediately became attached and protective. This connection developed even further as her child become more visible throughout her pregnancy (Figure 2). The visualization allowed her to get a grasp on what it really meant to be pregnant and created an unordinary and beautiful experience. This process happens with existing parents as well. While they may have seen the images of their previous child/children in the form of a sonogram, it is not something that happens consistently. The next child is a new form and a different life than their first. Although the process is repeated, it is not the same experience as before and the visualization creates a real connection to the new, unborn child. Although pregnancy in society is a common occurrence, when focusing on the individual it becomes a process that is not a part of the everyday and the visualization becomes even more unordinary. While the sonogram is aesthetically appealing, the ultrasound can also be a tool used for education. Similar to the X-Ray, an ultrasound is useful in the medical setting and helps guide the doctor through different parts of the inner body. It can visualize muscles, tendons, and organs but is most commonly known for producing sonograms. Since the technician was already trained on what to look for, the sonogram will be used to teach the mother or parents different things about their unborn child. It can teach the parents how healthy their child is or what they may need to be concerned about. It will also teach them how far along the pregnancy is and eventually and tell them the sex of the child. Another thing that has been made possible through advances in technology is the visualization of neurons through staining and microscopy. Due to their magnificent nature, the images have been transformed in different ways and many scientists didn’t expect the popularity of them. The neuron has inspired artists from Andrew Carnie to David Becker and even been incorporated into films like Fight Club (2000). The art-science field has grown as artists have spent time looking into other disciplines for inspiration and the use of science in art continues to grow. While scientists also find the images appealing, they are more focused on the research at hand. Since the first discovery of the individual neuron in the 1870s, scientists have continued to use the visualization process to learn more about the brain and feel that it is just as important to understand them as it is to recognize their beauty. Dr. Richard Wingate, an expert in Developmental Neurology and researcher at King’s College in London, explains how the ability to visualize the neuron has been extremely helpful in understanding it. Through an initial study of the brain, it was suspected that the brain was a “mesh of interconnected fibers.” After being able to visualize the neurons, this theory was quickly erased and neurologists discovered not just what the neurons looked like but how they interact and shift as they grow. Dr. Wingate writes “Sections and snapshots remain, for the time being, the basis of our understanding of neuroanatomy.” In other words, the images created have become our true connection to understanding the brain.Visualization through ArtSince our inner bodies are such a mysterious place, when we see images like that of the neuron they become extremely aesthetically appealing and feed into our wonder. What else is happening in there that we cannot see? How can this actually exist within our bodies and at such a small scale? The more questions we ask the more we use these images to help us find the answers. Although imagery of the inner body produced by medical technology is mostly used for educational purposes, as stated previously, the images also become inspiration for many artists. Since most of the images allow the inner body to be described as mystical and mysterious an overall appeal is formed. While images have been the source of inspiration for some time, some artists had no choice but to study the body up close and personal.Leonardo da Vinci for example, is described as painter first and scientist second. To da Vinci however, science was just as important to him as his artwork. While observing his drawings of the human anatomy, these interests become clear. Using cadavers as sources, Leonardo created over 550 drawings that depict the human anatomy from the fetus (Figure 3) to the muscular structure (figure 4). He wanted to understand how the body worked and how it related to everyday movements and emotions in order to transfer these ideas into his paintings. His drawings, especially for the time of their creation, were spectacular but unfortunately not well known during his lifetime. He intended to publish his findings but because of his perfectionist ways, he was unable to finish his work before his death in 1519. If he had, it would have become a teaching tool in Europe and changed the way anatomy was understood at that time. His beautiful drawings were unlike any other and represented an unordinary exposure to such an everyday part of life. Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) was another artist interested in the inner body. He first worked as a neurohistologist in Spain and discovered that neurons were independent from the others. This discovery was a huge turnaround for scientific research. The visualization through the microscope proved previous scientific theories wrong which in essence changed how we currently view the brain. Cajal also used science to reach back into his first love; art. He created work that was inspired by the things he could see through the microscope. For example, one of his sketches, which is also one of the first ever drawings of the neuron (figure 5) was based off of a stain of the human retinal cell. Cajal’s work as a neurohistologist was groundbreaking and his work as an artist created inspiration for others. Similar to da Vinci and Cajal, Andrew Carnie is also and example of an artist who is a part of the Art-Science culture. Carnie began his journey through his original interest in memory and memory storage but he became captivated with the neural images because of how aesthetically pleasing they were. His installation titled Magical Forest 2002 (Figure 6), has been exhibited in many places including its original location at the Science Museum in London. The structure of his installation is best described in Imagining the brain cell: the neuron in visual culture:A sequence of images is projected onto three semi-translucent screens that lie between them; images rise from one side and dissolve into images rising from the other side. The hand drawn images depict a growing of forest neurons; the work begins inside the skull and ends in a black void. The screens mirror the confocal microscope used to collect data on developing neurons. The to- and fro-ing between projectors lets one enter the world of the brain in different ways; sometimes as a spectator, clinically viewing the complex neuronal forms, and sometimes being immersed in the images as if one were inside the brain. The neuron’s structure is obviously relatable to the structure of a leafless tree in winter. For this reason, Carnie plays with the idea of multiplying them and overlapping them in specific areas to create a sense of depth and feeling of a forest. His imagery becomes relatable through nature yet incredibly fantastical at the same time. Some of his images reflect the growing brain in the skull which makes the connection from the neuron images to the brain. When viewing the neurons by themselves however, one gets lost in them through the transparency and use of color and it becomes almost dreamlike. We can relate it to a space that is similar to one we have previously interacted with but at the same time it feels like a brand new environment that we want to be a part of. In order to develop his installation and learn more about the neuron, Carnie worked closely with Dr. Wingate. He had access to neuron images and learned similar techniques used by one of his inspirations. As mentioned previously, Ramón y Cajal created drawings based off of images created when using a staining technique. This process is similar to the one used today by scientists like Dr. Wingate and his drawings continue to have importance as well. Carnie finds inspiration in Cajal’s work and describes it as other worldly. Although the images represent something that is a part of the everyday, they clearly become dreamlike or surreal as they are visualized. While Carnie spent a lot of time working with the brain, his current works reflect another part of the body. For his next exhibit, which he has been working on since 2004, he and three other artists are developing work inspired by “emotional and psychological effects of heart transplantation.” With the help of a cardiologist, philosopher, nurse, psychiatrist, and sociologist, the artists will explore the change that happens to a body when a transplant takes place. The artists that Carnie chose to work with are ones who have previously worked with scientists and understand the research involved. The work ranges from two-dimensional works to video and sculpture. Some of his images look as though they were produced in a similar way to Magical Forest, but instead overlaps a male figure with what appears to be the circulatory system (Figure 7). This visualization again creates a spectacular experience that in no could be labeled as the everyday.Carnie and Cajal are not the only people that have been inspired by the microscopic part of the body. David Becker, Professor in Tissue Repair and Regeneration at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, has also created work involving neurons. Although he may not work as a professional artist, his photograph of a neuron and blood vessel (Figure 8) won an award during its display in the exhibit titled Visions of Science in 2001. Although his purpose is mainly for research, his photography is extremely stunning. He takes something that is a part of the everyday especially his own everyday, and turns it into a spectacular and magical image. Susan Emmerson is another artist who is inspired by the inner body but not just on a microscopic level. In her work she wants to show how art can easily connect to body and science. In her paintings she represents anything from parts of organs, like in her piece Anatomy Book No.11, 2012 (Figure 9) to sperm-like forms in her painting Anatomy Book No.22, 2013 (Figure 10). She mainly uses bright acrylics on a black background to create a high contrast. Suddenly, the inner workings of the body which are often thought of as unpleasant or unappealing to look at, become beautiful. The work calls attention to how we are connected and allows one to see the inner workings as something more mystical and appealing. The contrast of the black background brings even more attention to the imagery and how one form connects to the other. Emmerson also creates carefully constructed installations made of Tyvek (plastic paper) cut to create structures that feel inspired by microscopic parts of the body. She describes these pieces as “flowing, expanding, growing, repeating and proliferating” structures that relate to “qualities of live organisms”. Since they are installations, the viewer becomes immersed in these structures and interacts with them in a different way than with two-dimensional work. Her piece Methistanai, 2013 (Figure 11) moves across the wall as if it is a growing and breathing thing and Emmerson relates this to work to the spread of disease. Visualizing it becomes a way for the viewer to fully understand the mass growth of disease and, while the work is beautiful, it becomes slightly frightening as it creeps across th e wall. As the piece appears to rest a small distance away from the wall, a shadow is developed. This makes the piece jump away from the wall even further which crowds the viewers space even more. While one may be able to think about disease and feel that they understand it, the visualization of her instillations makes it more real and allows room for a different type of emotional connection to the work. Along with her installations and paintings, Emmerson creates ink drawing. They are very interesting because while her paintings use color as a way of drawing in the viewer and creating a connection to beauty, her drawings pull in the audience differently. Similar to her other work, they are very organic and detailed yet relate to the body on a more microscopic level. They are much more visceral than her paintings but continue to evoke a sort of elegance. The variety of textures she uses is also appealing and makes you want to touch the work to fully understand what these objects feel like. The way she brings the inner body to life in her work continues to push the bizarre and mystery of the body while developing a relationship with the viewer like no other. While discussing the inner body with Emmerson, she describes encountering her work as a personal experience. She said that when a person comes in contact with work that reflects something that exists in them, a private connection is made. They connect it to their struggles with their own body as well as struggles that loved ones have. For example, someone who sees disease as an image may relate it to a disease that their brother or sister has. For this reason, the work further steps out of the everyday and into a spectacular experience. The visualization allows for a private moment between the viewer and the work which is not something that happens on a daily basis. Another form of art, while not thought of that way at first, is the closest to displaying the real inner body as possible and for this reason we interact with it in a different way. The Body Worlds exhibit (figure 12), created by medical doctor and researcher Gunther von Hagens, was developed to bring the inner body to the public. He uses skinned plastinated human corpses that were donated to science and places them into everyday positions. While the exhibit is formed from actual corpses, they are described as being as close to displaying the real inner body because the plastication process slightly alters the reality. According to Petra Kuppers, author of Visions of Anatomy: Exhibitions and Dense Bodies, the way the bodies are displayed alters reality as well. He writes that they are “too much like museum exhibits and too little like the visitors own body”. The figures are no longer living beings and the plastic effect creates a barrier that allows one to view them more as statues regularly seen in museums than a person who was once living. While it is not and may never be possible to create an exhibit that does not have to alter the flesh in order to preserve it, the work still creates a completely unusual experience for the individual viewing it. Although standing in front of a figure that is set up in a position that would be seen in the everyday, the actual body standing in front of the viewer is not one that could be seen in the everyday. A skinless figure would not be able to perform gymnastics (Figure 13) or skateboard (Figure 14), but this allows people to see what the inner body looks like during different activities. When describing the interaction that happens between the figures and the viewer, Kuppers writes, “aware of what is inside of us through seeing what is in front of us making the connection back to the self, a connection that is by no means “natural”. Although one may be able to think about their inner body, they don’t normally do this while standing in front of a version of it. For this reason, the exhibit creates a completely unnatural experience. Although a person usually observes these pieces in a room filled with other people, it becomes a rather personal experience just as Emmerson describes the interaction with her work. The inner body is personal to each individual as it relates to what is currently happening inside of them or someone they know. It can connect to their current or past injuries and creates questions of wonder about what would happen if they were stripped to this level. When I saw the exhibit in 2011, I constantly related what I was seeing to what kind of shape my body was in. Through my years of being an athlete I had issues with my knees and continued to wonder what kind of scarring took place and what it would look like if was pealed apart like the figures standing before me. It was an overall amazing experience. The thought that these beings standing before me were once alive was hard to grasp but the ability to see the details of our inner bodies was amazing. Most of them were set up so the viewer could walk completely around the body and see how the muscles connected and overlapped. The viewer was able to see muscles from one side and follow it around the body to the connecting areas. Everyone that has viewed the exhibit has developed a different reaction to it. Kupper describes it as being a reference to life and death and he is not alone. According to the Body Worlds Exhibit website, 57% of the viewers said they thought of life and death while exploring the exhibit while79% of the people felt that the body was something to marvel over and 68% left the exhibit wanting to change their lifestyle to a healthier one. While the exhibit involved interactions that could be created by a regular art exhibit, it was also rather successful as an educational resource which was von Hagen’s goal in the first place. He said he wanted to “teach through art” by displaying the body in the most realistic way and that’s exactly what he did.Its stunning visual qualities draw in the crowd but once they are in, learning takes place. Most people have learned through illustrations or models in a science class however the exhibit does something completely different. When asked about how this provides an unusual experience, this was the response: The use of authentic specimens allows a thorough examination and study of disease, physiology, and anatomy that you cannot find in models, textbooks, or photos. In addition, the exhibition allows visitors to understand that each and every body has its own unique features, even on the inside. The experience in other cities has clearly demonstrated that real specimens fascinate exhibit visitors in a way that models cannot.Considering that 86% of viewers said that they felt that they knew more about the inner body after experiencing the exhibit, it is fair to say this statement is true. The work educates and visually stimulates at the same time producing an experience like no other. ConclusionOverall everyone has some sort of relationship to the everyday and more specifically to their inner bodies. Although at first one may not address the inner body as something as simple as the everyday, according to Johnstone and Highmore’s definitions, it should be labeled as such. It exists on a daily basis and is clearly a part of the bizarre and mysterious. The inner body also mostly remains hidden in our daily lives however depending on whose everyday is at hand, it can be more visible to some than others. A surgeon will interact with it regularly both visually and physically while a person outside of the medical profession only interacts with their inner body through daily functions. It also affects the everyday of people depending on their level of health and awareness for their health. Although the inner body is a member of the everyday, when visualized it shifts to the extraordinary. Images produced through medical technology like X-Rays and sonograms or through microscopic photography of neurons were meant to be educational. These images have taught members of their field for hundreds of years and the medical devices created along the way have helped the process. The visualization of neurons for example provided evidence to debunk original theories and the X-Ray provided images of the inner body without the need to cut through skin. While they were originally meant to be a way to educate, the images produced were and continue to be so astonishing that many artists use them for inspiration in their work. While Johnstone writes that a focus on the everyday in art brings “art and life closer together”, when it comes to the inner body, that connection goes much deeper. From works of Leonardo Da Vinci to Gunther von Hagens, art opens a new world to the public. It gives people a new relationship to science and a better understanding of themselves. Work like the Body Worlds exhibit is a relatively new process but its success as an educational exhibit is profound. People were able to see the body up close and not only understand how an inner body is connected but also relate it to their own. The exhibit then goes back and forth from being an educational experience to an artistic and personal one.The visualization of the body from microscopic structures to skeletal structures develop an interaction that becomes so stunning it draws the audience further into the work. From there they create a personal relationship that cannot and will not happen simply by thinking about their bodies. Images in general are powerful. They surround us in our lives and they can influence the way we think. According to W.J.T. Mitchell, a scholar of visual culture, there is no such thing a purely visual image which makes them even more powerful. He argues that the other senses are involved when observing any form of visual media. When applying his theory to the visualization of the inner body, it is easier to understand the extraordinary relationship that occurs between the audience and the image. They are not just seeing the work because it also takes them to a certain smell, sound, or touch. The viewer will attach meaning to an image as well. Whether they vocalize or internalize the meaning, some sort of observation, connection or judgment will happen.This type of occurrence wouldn’t take place without the visual and it certainly would not happen in the everyday. Bibliography“Body Worlds,” Gunther von Hagens, accessed December 5, 2013. , Andrew. “Andrew Carnie Heart Project.” Accessed November 30, 2013. , Andrew. “Magic Forest: Slide Dissolve Work.” Accessed November 5, 2013. , Lisa. Screening the Body .Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995.Clayton, Martin. “Medicine: Leonardo’s anatomy years.” In Nature 484(2012):314-316Dumit, Joseph. Picturing Personhood: Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2004.Fraser, Benjamin. “Madrid, Histological City: The Scientific, Artistic, and Urbanized Vision of Santiago Ramon y Cajal.” In Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures 67 (2013):3. Accessed November 19, 2013. doi: 10.1080/00397709.2013.820058Highmore, Ben. “Figuring the Everyday.” In Everyday Life and Cultural Theory, edited by Ben Highmore, 1-16. London: Routledge, 2002Highmore, Ben. “Questioning the Everyday.” In The Everyday Life Reader, edited by Ben Highmore, 1-34. London: Routledge, 2002. Johnstone, Stephen. “Introduction//Recent Art and The Everyday.” in The Everyday: Documents of Contemporary Art, 1-11.Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2008.Kevles, Bettyann Holtzman. “The Discovery of X-Rays: Seeing is Believing.” in Naked to the Bone, edited by Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles, 1-32. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1997. Kuppers, Petra. “Visions of Anatomy: Exhibitions and Dense Bodies.” in A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies (2004):124-156. Maude, Ulrika and Macnaughton, Jane. The Body and the Arts. London: Palgrave Macmillon, 2009.Mitchell, W.T.J. “There are no Visual Media.” In Journal of Visual Culture, (2005), 8-13“Podcast: The Magic Forest.” The Beautiful Brain. Accessed November 14, 2013. “Susan Emmerson.” Accessed November 14, 2013. den Berg-Emons, Rita J, Bussmann, Johannes B, Balk, Aggi H, and Stam, Henk J.“Factors Associated With the Level of Movement-Related Everyday Activity and Quality of Life in People With Chronic Heart Failure.” in Physical Therapy 85 (2005): 1340-46.“Visitors’ Reactions to Body Worlds.” February 22 June 19, 2009. Accessed December 5, 2013. , Richard and Kwint, Marius. ”Imagining the brain cell: the neuron in visual culture.” in Perspectives7 (2006): 745-752.ImagesFigure 1- Wilhelm Roentgen, Frau Roentgen’s hand, 1895Figure 2- Ezra Schneider Sonogram, 2013Figure 3- Leonardo da Vinci, Fetus study, 1513Figure 4- Leonardo da Vinci, muscular study, 1511Figure 5- Santiago Romon y Cajal, Neuron, 1852Figure 6- Andrew Carnie, images from Magical Forest, 2002Figure 7- Andrew Carnie, image from The Heart Project, 2004-2014Figure 8- David Becker, Neuron and Blood Vessel, Visions of Science, 2001Figure 9- Susan Emmerson, Anatomy Book No.11, acrylic on board, 2012Figure 10-Susan Emmerson, Anatomy Book No.22, 2013, acrylic on boardFigure 11- Susan Emmerson, Methistanai, 2013, cut TyvekFigure 12- Body Worlds Exhibit PosterFigure 13- Figure from Body Worlds ExhibitFigure 14- Figure from Body Worlds Exhibit ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download