Sunday, October 27, 2013

Week 4: Medicine + Art + Technology

Art, Medicine, and Technology are three words that the average human being would probably never think to put together. However this is something that I have seen being used together many times in my life. My father is an Industrial Designer, his job is to take regular things in the world and make them aesthetically pleasing while still technologically advanced and sound. When I was a kid he did a project designing a heart rate monitor for a hospital equipment company. Although I cannot find the exact picture it looked something like this:

The control buttons, heart rate waves, and many other parts of this machine need to look aesthetically pleasing in some way to be able to be sold to hospitals. However, that has to be so perfectly intertwined with the technology working medicinally it is an art form in its own to design a piece of art. 

Another thing that really caught my attention about this lecture was the way we admire the natural human body as art, but are constantly trying to perfect it through things like plastic surgery. 


In the first picture we see the human body from a Body Worlds exhibit, something that we have admired as art for such a long time. The second picture is a woman "striving for perfection" through plastic surgery. This is where this lecture topic all really comes together: Through technological advances we have been able to medically alter the human body, to turn it into original pieces of art. Something that has always been looked at as unique, we can now alter to make art out of it. Technology really has advanced art so far, and it is so obvious through medical changes.

RESOURCES:

Heart Rate Monitor" Lifesyleaccelerator. unkown. Web. 27 Oct. 2013<http://lifestyleaccelerator.com/myblog/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/monitor.jpg>

Body Worlds Gymnast" Onmilwakee. Body Worlds. Web. 27 Oct. 2013<http://www.onmilwaukee.com/images/articles/bo/bodyworlds/bodyworlds_fullsize_story1.jpg?20080118091932>

Plastic Surgery Woman" OprahWinfreyShow. Unkown. Web. 27 Oct. 2013<http://static.oprah.com/images/tows/200502/20050208/20050208_101_350x263.jpg>
Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/Ep0M2bOM9Tk.” Lecture. Medicine pt1 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep0M2bOM9Tk>.
Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/FIX-9mXd3Y4.” Lecture. Medicine pt3. Youtube, 22 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIX-9mXd3Y4>.
Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.


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2 comments:

  1. Ruby ChangOctober 27, 2013 at 8:17 PM

    Hi Neil,

    Not everyone can say that their dad helped design a heart rate monitor, you know! That's so cool :) I really like the perspective you have on this, too; it might appear like a typical piece of hospital equipment but there is a lot of thought and effort that goes into designing an appealing yet functional device. A perfect example of medicine, art, and technology. Plastic surgery also stood out to me this week. In fact, it was even a bit shocking when considering examples such as Orlan. Good job on this!

    Best,
    Ruby Chang

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  2. Rui GuoOctober 30, 2013 at 5:46 PM

    Hey Neil!

    I enjoyed your post this week. It's really interesting that you grew up around all of this medical technology so you can apply that to what you've learned so far. You mentioned plastic surgery as a way humans like to perfect their own bodies. I've never realized how much medicine and art are tied in. Do you think that beauty can be manufactured though? All in all, good post this week and looking forward to more.

    Great job!
    Rui

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