Fascination with the human body, with God supreme creation, has always been part of Art and ergo of science, since dissection has been the most common method of anatomic study and learning.
Although much is written about difficulties of artist in obtaining cadavers for dissection- with some local exceptions- it was an accepted practice by both, religious and civil authorities, for the purpose of legal and scientific investigation. In fact in De Sepultis (a 1301 papal bull) Boniface VIII instructs the boiling of flesh and bones of the Crusaders for easy transportation, allows their dissection, prohibiting only the dispersal of parts (for easy reassembly in the Day of Judgement).
The first publications appeared in the XVII century in spite of numerous anatomical studies done by Da Vinci, Michael Angelo and Rosso Fiorentino, and others. Their link to art was due not only because of their use to design, painting and sculpting but also because it was through the hands of the illustrator that the anatomist could communicate its findings and avoid the natural feeling of revulsion and pain provoked by the image of dead matter.
In other words, the role of the illustrator was to transform the macabre, dismembered and decomposed biological matter into a pleasing and coherent image that could be used by scientist as well as artist. Or this reason De Humanis Corporis Fabrica and Epitome of Andrea Vesalius, was one of the most influential and copied publications of the XVII century.
By the XVIII century the roles of anatomist, illustrator and print maker were ambiguous.
This interdisciplinary collaboration proved to be an essential in the development of both science and art.
Historically the relation between Architecture and Art has been very tight, and even with science, particularly in areas related with the knowledge of the human body.
Nevertheless, afterward with the discovery of X-rays and other non-invasive exploratory techniques such as MRI, CATscan, etc the connection between Art and Science weakened or was rendered un-necessary.
In the contemporary world both, the production of meaningful spaces and the close relationship that once existed with Art and Science has been weakened by a tendency to neglect or numb our senses, and by given priorities merely to the functional aspect of the architectural profession, reducing it to mundane 'construction'.
As an architect that has worked in Art and has been constantly exposed to medical science since infancy (both my parents are doctors: neurology and surgery), my work has been looking to re-establish this connection by using also modern techniques of artistic representation and scientific exploration; thematically, playing with dualities such as: natural and constructed landscapes, the rational and the imaginary, and the perception of scale, etc.
Petri Dish + Clams + Translucent Images + Light + Base
w/Gaston Soucy,Dr.Plaido Mora &Dr. Rut Mora Izturriaga
For MEASURE (art party) We worked with the formal repetition of natural and man made patterns, using images from cities, landscapes and human body parts (particularly brain cells) calling the attention on the outstanding formal resemblance and the dramatic scale differences.
The piece resulted in an illuminated object that by using Petri Dishes and translucent images referred to a microscopic sense of scale. Playing with this assumption, the sense of scale was broken or displaced when the content was, on the contrary macro-scale image such as an aerial picture of cities, landscapes, etc.
Comparative statistics were place at the base
The piece resulted in an illuminated object that by using Petri Dishes and translucent images referred to a microscopic sense of scale. Playing with this assumption, the sense of scale was broken or displaced when the content was, on the contrary macro-scale image such as an aerial picture of cities, landscapes, etc.
Comparative statistics were place at the base
X-PORTRAIT Skull #1: x-ray + oil + wood + plastic + light
Illness makes us much more conscious of our body, its functions, its power and limitations. The pain, the anxiety, the uncertainty created by it produces an immediate awareness of fragility and puts in perspective what we many times overlook.
On 2008, after going for a minor surgical head intervention, a friend –the patient-handed me two x-rays of his head (side and front) and asked me to do an ‘X- Portrait’.
Since we have worked together in the past with cities, wounds, and body parts I created two images that reflected these experiences; playing between hard and soft geometries, rational and organic shapes, natural and constructed landscapes.
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