Medicine, Technology, and Art

In t

he Renaissance, art was strongly focused on trying to capture human anatomy accurately. Thus, “as European artists turned towards more lifelike portrayals of the human body, they needed a deeper understanding of how the structures of the body worked together” (sciencemuseum.org). That is why scientists and artists worked together during this time period (and were often one and the same).

Renaissance Anatomy Art

 X-Ray Art is a good example of an artistic medium where artists have taken advantage of a medical technology. This piece, by Nick Veasey, shows our connection to technology because both the microphone and the headphones look similar to our skeletal structure, as if they could be natural appendages to our bodies.

Nick Veasey's X-Ray Art

Silivia Casini writes that “even a single MRI image might be considered to be a portrait or self-portrait” (Casini, 89). Thus, artists have also begun to make use of MRIs to make art that expresses themselves and others. I think that this piece uses MRI technology to express angst.

MRI Art

After learning about how MRI machines are used to make art, I began to wonder how they worked. I learned that MRIs shoot electromagnetic radiation at specific frequencies to see certain types of tissue. This is how MRIs are able to see soft tissue, like muscles, while X-Ray machines can only see bones.

Robot Assisted Surgery

I also became very interested in robot assisted surgery, since this technology seems to build off last week’s lecture. Robots can duplicate the hand motions of a surgeon, and can this allow “a specialist to operate on a patient who is very far away without either of them having to travel” (allaboutrobocsurgery.com). However, they are still prohibitively expensive for most applications.

"All About Robotic Surgery." Surgical Robots, Robotic Surgery, Robotic Systems. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://allaboutroboticsurgery.com/surgicalrobots.html>.

Casini, Silvia. "Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations between Science and the Arts." Configurations: 73-99. Print.

Gould, RT-(R)(MR)(ARRT), and Molly Edmonds. HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/mri5.htm>.

"History of Robotic Surgery." History of Robotic Surgery. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.laparoscopyhospital.com/history_of_robotic_surgery.htm>.

"Robot-assisted Surgery." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot-assisted_surgery>.

"Science Museum. Brought to Life: Exploring the History of Medicine." Art and Anatomy. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. 

<http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/understandingthebody/anatomy.aspx>

"Sylvie Guillems." X Ray Art. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://sylvieguillems.blogspot.com/2010/06/x-ray-art.html>.

"Vesalius's Renaissance Anatomy Lessons." Vesalius's Renaissance Anatomy Lessons. Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://www.bl.uk/learning/artimages/bodies/vesalius/renaissance.html>.

Web. 27 Apr. 2015. <http://picslist.com/image/29065540172>.