Beginning in the renaissance era, the first connection of art, medicine, and technology was seen as the first human dissection was performed. It was used in order to portray the human body in the most accurate way. Now, we see these portrayals of the human body in classrooms, doctor’s offices, and textbooks. There are many other places we can see these advanced portrayals. In the Lecture 1 video, Professor Vesna mentions Gunther von Hagens, German anatomist, who invented a technique for preserving biological tissue specimens called plastination. The preserved human figures are now seen in a popular exhibition called Body Worlds. As seen on the official website, the “primary goal of Body Worlds is health education. The exhibitions are targeted mainly at a lay audience to open up the opportunity to better understand the human body and its functions.” (bodyworlds.com)
As we learned in Lecture video 3, another way that medicine and art converge to effect people’s lives is in the form of plastic surgery. In the present day, plastic surgery is viewed as a negative subject to many people. What most people don’t know is that plastic surgery originated with the use of skin graphs to reconstruct and fix injuries that were caused by weapons during WWI. In lecture video 2, professor Vesna stated, “Some of the best medical talents devoted themselves to restoring faces and lives during and after WWI and this meant huge advances in plastic surgery” (Vesna). Since this time period, there has been a shift in people’s perspectives on the topic. With growing technology and changes in society, plastic surgery has shifted from a necessary to a preference. In most cases, it is now used to increase personal appearance and looks in order to conform to society, which is the cause of the negative context it now encompasses.
Grey’s Anatomy, one of my favorite shows, deals with many medical issues on screen for viewers to see and learn about. Not only can the show relate to the technology and use of videography and how it can be developed into a work of art in the form of a television show, but they also portray many situations that use advanced technology in the medical world. They show how advanced research, technology, and even plastic surgery can effect the lives of many patients. There are also many scenes of doctors performing actual surgeries, which many people view as an art form in itself.
Sources:
Mission of the Exhibitions." Body Worlds: The Original Exhibition of Real Human Bodies. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine and Art: Part 1.” Lecture.. Youtube, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ <%22>.
Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine and Art: Part 2.” Lecture.. Youtube, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ <%22>.
Vesna, Victoria. “Medicine and Art: Part 3.” Lecture.. Youtube, 25 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ <%22>.
"Grey's Anatomy." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Photos:
"Bad Taxidermy." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
"Plastic Surgery in Budapest- Cosmetic Surgery Clinics." Budapest By Locals. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
"GREY’S ANATOMY SEASON 10 EPISODE 6 “MAP OF YOU”." Hollywood Anesthesia. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
"Piece of My Heart." Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015.
Hi Jordy. I've read your writing interestingly since I want to share some more ideas with you on this topic. I've also searched about the plastination that you've mentioned above which is one type that biologists used to study human being themselves and I've also put some ethical issues related the methods they used. When it comes to the plastic surgery thing, as you might know, South Korea is one the main countries that plastic surgery is highly demanding by many ladies and or even gentlemen for their preferences because they want to get prettier. That would have led many people to get eventually better in appearance, however, that also brought the issue that they all looked similar in some ways after the surgery. It means that the natural beauty from the time when they were born were just gone and they all pursue the same type of beauty. That is my concern of the result that medical technology would bring to the society at this point. Thank you for letting me share my thoughts here and I really enjoyed your writing. Thanks
ReplyDelete