Even before viewing
this week’s lecture, I was not surprised by the topic at all. Thanks to my art
teacher in elementary school, the relation between medical technology and art
is deeply rooted in my mind. My art teacher mentioned his experience taking
anatomy classes with medical students during college as some funny and scary
anecdotes. In order to draw bodies accurately and lively, art students have to
understand the structure of bones and muscle in detail. It would be a perfect
example of how findings in medical field influence the development of art.
Anatomy is a necessary course for art students studying painting.
Without the use of basic anatomy knowledges, bodies in this artwork show bone structure that are rather disturbing.
Da Vinci's sketches show the structure and relation of bones, vessels and muscles.
On the other hand,
medicine is also influence by art as mentioned in Hippocratic Oath that “there
is art to medicine as well as science”. Except the art of curing, medical
technology is also influence by the pursuit of beauty. From skincare to plastic
surgery, new developments are encouraged by the rocketing demand of consumers. During
a plastic surgery, the doctor is also working as an artist. However, their
artworks that combine the beauty of both cultures have caused the debate of the
true meaning of beauty.
Due to the prevalence of plastic surgery and a single beauty standard, 2013 Miss Korea have quite similar faces.
Amazon. The Art Student’s Guide to External Anatomy.
Amazon. 1 Jan, 2010. Web. 3 Jul, 2014. http://www.amazon.com/Students-Guide-External-Anatomy-Paperback/dp/B00FKY5HMM
Hills, Suzannah. Hundreds of years
ahead of his time: Leonardo da Vinci's extraordinarily detailed anatomical
drawings show he was more than a match for today's medical technology. Mailonline. 2 Aug, 2013. Web. 3 Jul, 2014. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2383273/Leonardo-da-Vincis-drawings-100s-years-ahead-time.html
Mencher, Kenney. Ugly Renaissance
Babies. 5 Dec, 2011. Web. 3 Jul, 2014. http://kenney-mencher.blogspot.com/2011/12/ugly-renaissance-babies.html
Tyson, Peter. The Hippocratic Oath
Today. Nova. 27 Mar, 2001. Web. 3 Jul, 2014. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html
ShenTheWise. Korea’s plastic surgery mayhem is finally converging on the
same face. 2013. Photograph. Gawker.com. Web. 3 Jul, 2014. http://gawker.com/plastic-surgery-blamed-for-making-all-miss-korea-contes-480907455
Shuoyan,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your week 3 blog. Learning about art and the relationship between medical technology through your experience with your art teacher helped me understand this relationship better. It was also interesting to see a painting that lacked this basic knowledge of bone structure, and muscle vessels.
What do you think the true meaning of beauty is? Do you believe that a doctor who performs plastic surgery on an individual is performing art?
It was interesting to see the similarities in the 2013 Miss Korea beauty pageant. Do different cultures reflect distinct beauty standards?
Hi Shuoyan,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that without basic anatomy knowledges, drawings of people will look disturbing. I took an art class in high school and when we did portraits, my drawings looked weird. I learned that proportion and bone structure is really important in portraits.
I also found your picture of the 2013 Miss Korea beauty pageant interesting. When I first looked at the picture, I thought they were all the same women. With different cultural ideas, I wonder if the world will ever agree on what true beauty is...