Dom's Desma 9 Blog: April 2019

Monday, April 29, 2019

Week 4 | Medicine + Technology + Art

Radiograph of the foot, anteroposterior view, showing the calcaneus (black arrow), talus (white arrow), and navicular bone (arrowhead)

Throughout my lifetime, I have had several X-rays and MRI's in my lifetime, mostly on my ankles and feet. I have sat there, for sometimes hours at a time getting X-ray’s followed by an MRI when nothing shows up on the X-ray. After I would get my MRI results back I would have to sit there with a doctor and listen to them tell me what was wrong with me. Most of the time, I was just waiting for them to tell me how long I would have to sit out of my sport. I would usually ignore all the diagrams, and foot replicas showing me where my injury was and why it was crucial for me to not bear any weight on my injured foot.

Anatomical Diagram of the foot

Throughout all of these visits, I never paid any mind to the diagrams, models, and replicas that are used for teaching and medical instruction. To me, they seemed like the standard decor for an orthopedic specialist’s or chiropractor's office. Looking back on it now, artists work in this specific field has proven to be extremely important for furthering knowledge in the medical field, as well as public’s knowledge on what they look like on the inside.

Henry Gray.
Anatomy: Descriptive and Surgical.
Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea, 1866.

Medical illustrations and diagrams not only give the public information, but there is also a subtle beauty in the skill that it takes to create these illustrations. This was evidence upon the publication of Henry Gray’s, Anatomy with illustrations by Henry Vandyke Carter. Carter himself was also in the medical field, but fell into the medical illustration niche in college. Gray’s Anatomy was his first big project, and it immediately reached success. Not only was the book informative, but the illustrations proved to be so comprehensive that it quickly became a staple in medical studies.

Sources:

MERLIN Library Catalog / MU. Accessed April 30, 2019. http://merlin.lib.umsystem.edu/record=b6431598~S1.

"Anatomy Descriptive and Surgical First Edition - Henry Gray." Bauman Rare Books. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/henry-gray/anatomy-descriptive-and-surgical/100863.aspx.

Coris, Eric E., and John A. Lombardo. "Tarsal Navicular Stress Fractures." American Family Physician. January 01, 2003. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0101/p85.html.

Smith, Amanda. "Gray's Anatomy's Forgotten Illustrator." Radio National. July 30, 2014. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/bodysphere/gray’s-anatomy-a-tale-of-two-doctors/5635018.

"Under Your Skin: The Anatomy Artwork of H.V. Carter." Dittrick Medical History Center. October 26, 2017. Accessed April 30, 2019. https://artsci.case.edu/dittrick/2014/05/22/under-your-skin-the-anatomy-artwork-of-h-v-carter/.

Sunday, April 14, 2019

Week 2: Math + Art

This week, we learned about how intertwined math and art truly are. According to Linda Henderson's, article many 20th century artists took an interest in theories about math and geometry, which spurred a whole new era of art. This allowed them to go beyond the 2 dimensional canvas and explore dimensions and perspectives that were never explored by previous artists. This connects to the idea presented to us in lecture, where math is critical in the study of visual art demonstrating its importance in creating regular and irregular shapes. This understanding and appreciation of math by artists has lead to many breakthroughs. One major breakthrough was the creation of linear perspective by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1413, so now artists could depict a 3-D image on a 2-D surface.

Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler by Pablo Picasso, 1910

Many in the early 20th century that took an interest in mathematical theories in relation to art were particularly concerned with non-Euclidean geometry, and understanding this order to portray a 4th dimension in their art. Pablo Picasso in particular uses this knowledge to create the Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler. Picasso uses his canvas space to create a multi-dimensional plane that takes the viewer through the art rather than staring at a flat creation. Picasso also uses this 4th dimension to create an added layer of depth to this piece.

Artists use this extended understanding of math in order to further understand the shapes and perspectives that can be created on a flat canvas. Having an understanding of mathematics has allowed artists to be able to replicate real life more accurately. The math, science, and art are juxtaposed in this course to show that things that we are taught to be very different are actually necessary for understanding one another, and in many places they overlap.

Sources:

ABBOTT, EDWIN. FLATLAND: a Romance of Many Dimensions. 1884.

Henderson, Linda Dalrymple. “The Fourth Dimension and Non-Euclidean Geometry in Modern Art: Conclusion.” Leonardo, vol. 17, no. 3, 1984, pp. 205–210. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1575193.

“Portrait of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, 1910 by Pablo Picasso.” Henri Matisse, www.pablopicasso.org/portrait-of-daniel-henry-kahnweiler.jsp.

YouTube, 26 Nov. 2007, youtu.be/LkODKN_m_H4.

YouTube, 26 Nov. 2007, youtu.be/LkODKN_m_H4.

ABBOTT, EDWIN. FLATLAND: a Romance of Many Dimensions. 1884.

YouTube, 26 Nov. 2007, youtu.be/LkODKN_m_H4.

YouTube, 19 Nov. 2016, youtu.be/iGO12Z5Lw8s.