Week 4

I never really viewed medicine and technology as art. This weeks lesson I find really interesting because I have had medical issues last year involving a knee injury. I had torn my ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and meniscus due to sports. I've had to get three MRI's because they could not tell if the ACL was torn. After seeing a doctor back at home and here at UCLA they all agreed to repair the meniscus then ACL, but due to how bad I tore my meniscus they thought it was in best interest to stage this surgery. I got my meniscus repaired at home during the summer of 2015 then when I got here to UCLA during summer school they fixed my ACL. During my rehab, I pushed myself too hard and ended up re-tearing my meniscus involving a third surgery.
Medicine, tools, and technology are considered art according to Vesna's Lecture Pt.2.



MRIs and X-Rays are is used to show organs and tissues within the body.  Silvia Casini states in her article, “MRI has a ‘look’ in the same way that the portrait has— that is, it has the capacity of being performative, thus resisting its being regarded as a transparent window onto the self” (Casini P. 73). 
 X-rays are the initial testings before the elaborate testing. MRIs allow an artist to see the inside of the body without having to cut it open. The cat scan combines multiple x-ray images with a computer generating a cross-sectional view. It takes the image and slices it into multiple images allowing the artist to see different levels of the body in a 3-D image.
 


Work Cited 
http://aclsurgeryla.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Torn-ACL-MRI-2.png

Vesna, Victoria. “Http://www.youtube.com/v/psjnQarHOqQ.” Lecture. Medicine pt2 . Youtube, 21 Apr. 2012. Web. 25 Apr. 2017. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psjnQarHOqQ>.
 
Rachel Garcia. After My Surgery, At Home. Personal photograph by author. 2015.
 
Casini, Silvia. “Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as Mirror and Portrait: MRI Configurations Between Science and Arts.” (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 25 Apr. 2017.
 
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Computed_tomography_of_human_brain_-_large.png 

 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 4, 2017 at 1:06 AM

    I think the fact that you have had a personal experience in which you had to have X-rays and surgeries really brings to light the significance of being able to see inside the body. Even with the technology of X-rays you said that doctors could not tell if your ACL was torn, but imagine having to determine this without being able to use X-rays -- it would be nearly impossible. Also, I believe that surgery is a lot more than simply cutting someone open and repairing whatever has to be fixed -- to do so, I believe that there is an entire art behind it.

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  2. MK KishMay 10, 2017 at 7:24 PM

    Wow your experience with MRI's and Cat scans is a really interesting way to relate to the topic of the week. I haven't had much experience with them myself, so it is really cool to hear your story and the science behind these processes. It really makes it clear how important medical technology is and the way that it allows doctors to understand the body more and more. These procedures are vital to the survival of each patient and it really takes a lot of time and effort to ensure that every step is carefully taken.

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