Week Four

 April 20, 2021

Week Four: Medicine, Art, and Technology

Medicine, art, and technology are concepts that I never imagined to intersect since they differ from one another in tremendous ways. After this week's lecture, I realized how wrong I was. Medicine and art go hand in hand with one another in various ways. As Professor Victoria Vesna mentioned during lecture, one of the first ways medicine and art intersected was through human dissections. The art of dissections was used to understand the human body during times where technology was not prominent or advanced enough. With time, humans have invented new technology such as x-rays, CAT scans, and more to assess humans. Recent technological developments allow teachers to use virtual reality technology to show dissections rather than relying on a real cadaver.  

Picture of virtual reality cadaver 

Although the human body itself is seen as a work of art, people continually go through surgeries to change their own features. Plastic surgery is a profession dedicated to surgically changing parts of a person's body. People can get nose jobs, facelifts, tummy tucks, butt lifts, and more done on their bodies if they want. New technology allows surgeons to give patients a preview of what their surgery results could look like should they opt to get the procedure. In Professor Vesna's third lecture, she mentions a woman who is getting plastic surgery to mimic certain features of people painted in classical paintings.

 

Screenshot from Victoria Vesna's part three lecture, depicting people from classical paintings

Plastic surgery is normalized within the public and is not a big deal in certain Asian cultures. In Korean culture, it is seen as an enhancement to natural beauty and is commonly seen in young adults. I remember watching a video about how a young girl was gifted a plastic surgery appointment for her birthday. This type of gifting is not seen as inappropriate in Korean culture but is rather normal. Modern-day anatomy and plastic surgery not only serve as an intersection of medicine, art, and technology, but also show why they are more similar than one may think.

Before and after pictures of plastic surgery done on a Korean woman 

References:

Gholipour, Bahar. “Med School without Cadavers?  .” Scientific American, Scientific American, 1 Oct. 2019, www.scientificamerican.com/article/med-school-without-cadavers/.

Lee, Alexa. “'Above Normal': South Korea's Plastic Surgery Boom.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 18 Sept. 2019, www.huffpost.com/entry/korea-plastic-surgery_l_5d72afb0e4b07521022c00e1.

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/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2. Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.

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>.