Medical Illustration and History
bioephemera | January 30, 2010This is apparently a real ad for the hotly contested Orleans Parish Coroner's race:
Poor Dr. Frankenstein Minyard. This takes negative campaigning to a whole new level.
bioephemera | January 28, 2010
Via my friend Sylvia, here's an old (2008) but interesting post arguing that over time, the quality of medical illustrations have declined. From Artemy Lebedev.
bioephemera | January 20, 2010
Camille Allen's tiny baby sculptures have been all over the blogosphere. Contrary to popular belief, though, they're not made of marzipan (almond candy) or icing - they're polymer clay and mohair. So you're not supposed to eat them - thank heavens. Still amazing, though. (And a perfect counterpoint to the giant baby sculptures by Ron Mueck - or the giant baby I just posted by Parmigianino.)
bioephemera | January 19, 2010
Madonna and Child with Angels, AKA "Madonna with the Long Neck"
Parmigianino, c. 1534/40
From Edward Winkleman's blog, a good post about yet another art historian with convenient medical explanations for the artistic idiosyncrasies of the old masters. In addition to arguing that the Mona Lisa had high cholesterol, the historian has an even more timely link to current events:
Among his other findings are that two of the most iconic figures in Renaissance art had a rare condition that may also afflict Osama Bin Laden. One is the young man with a red cap and distinctly sardonic expression who…
bioephemera | December 30, 2009
If you've ever worked in a bio lab, you know what I mean: these look too real!
Yes, I know Pharyngula and BoingBoing already got to them early this month, while I was in the middle of finals, but I just had to blog them anyway. They're too bioE. Besides, you can use them as a New Year's diet aid.
bioephemera | December 11, 2009The National Library of Medicine's "Turning the Pages" gallery lets you turn the virtual pages of classic science/medicine manuscripts. Check out Hieronymus Brunschwig's Liber de Arte Distillandi de Compositis (1512):
Note that the NLM's copy is hand-colored; uncolored copies also exist, such as this copy at ECHO. Comparison with the images of the ECHO copy show that NLM has elided the boring, text-only pages from their animation.
I'm not usually a big fan of animations that try to replicate the tactile experience of books, but given that you aren't usually allowed to touch manuscripts of…
bioephemera | December 6, 2009
"Vegetables are all your body needs" ad campaign, via Laughing Squid (hat-tip to Andrew Sullivan)
bioephemera | December 4, 2009
An intriguing new exhibition featuring work by herbert pfostl at the Observatory (next to Proteus Gowanus gallery in NYC):
Small paintings as parables of plants and animals and old stories of black robbers and white stags. Fragments on death like mirrors from a black sleep in the forests of fairy tales. All stories from the dust of the dead in fragments and footnotes like melodies of heartbreak and north and night and exploration-breakdowns. About saints with no promise of heaven and lost sailors forgotten and the terribly lonely bears. The unknown, the ugly - and the odd. Collected grand…
bioephemera | December 3, 2009Ever wonder what the pilot for "Gray's Anatomy:Uncanny Valley" would be like? Well, you're in luck!
If It Weren't For You (I'd Be Sued) from Justine Cooper on Vimeo.
Yes, that was a . . .
music video in which an unseen clinician serenades the mannequins used in medical simulation with an infectious rock ballad. Emoting on the depth of their relationship, the doctor or nurse apologizes to the mannequins for what they go through in the name of patient safety and the improvement of clinical skills, crooning the chorus "If it weren't for you, I'd be sued."
It turns out the video is just part of…
bioephemera | November 2, 2009
The very epitome of bioephemera, from Microbial Art:
Artist JoWOnder presents a pre-Raphaelite painting of Ophelia created with bacteria. The demise of the painting is filmed using time-lapse photography, showing a story of death and creation of new life. The colors and animation for '6 Days Goodbye Poems Of Ophelia' were created in a laboratory at Surrey University UK with the help of microbiologist Dr. Simon Park. When displayed in 2010, this will be an outdoor video installation of Ophelia with poems submitted from the public. Composer Milton Mermikides will be producing a sound track…
bioephemera | October 30, 2009One of the coolest, weirdest, worlds-colliding Day of the Dead artworks I've ever seen is this sculpture of a skeletal Teddy Kennedy. He's at a podium, open-jawed (no doubt haranguing other late Senators), accompanied by a skeletal dog.
The paper in his hand says "Health Care: The Cause of My Life." I realize this is a terrible photo, but in person, I actually found it pretty moving.
From the window of Nomad on Mass Ave in Cambridge, MA - they have an extensive Dia de los Muertos folk art collection.
Happy Halloween!
bioephemera | October 25, 2009OK: I'm female AND a biologist, and looking at this one freaks ME out!
I'm all in favor of appreciating the beauty of female anatomy and miracle of childbirth and all, but this pasty, long-limbed newborn doll with a detatchable umbilical is nothing compared with its laboring parent, who, in this photo from its etsy creator CozyColeman, looks a lot like Grendel's mom. It's as NSFW as crochet gets, I guess, so it's below the fold.
Yikes! Maybe I'm being uncharitable, but I think if you want to make the thought of pregnancy and childbirth horrifying yet eerily fascinating to your pre-teen…
bioephemera | October 20, 2009
To follow up on my post on Kevin Van Aelst, here's an anatomically-inspired artwork by Heather L. Johnson, whose new show, "Air and Blood", opens this month in NYC:
Using the Holland Tunnel as a point of departure, the artist investigates the way in which anatomical processes are mimicked in the transfer of people, objects and ideas in the urban environment.
I think that's a motorbike in that circulatory diagram - which of course invites comparison with the work of Josh Hadar.
For more on Johnson's new show, check out readymade blog.
bioephemera | October 18, 2009
Via Inventorspot: Hello Kitty goes anatomical, and we discover she even has bows on her guts. Yikes!
But seriously - the second, faux-ivory Hello Kitty looks a little familiar. According to Inventorspot,
you can choose from regular style or an interesting antiqued version with a finish resembling aged ivory. This style is meant to look like a netsuke; a polished and sculpted toggle worn by Japanese citizens and samurai on their kimono sashes from the 17th century on - robes have no pockets, y'see.
A netsuke? Sure. But to me, ivory + anatomy = anatomical teaching models like these. (see also…
bioephemera | October 14, 2009Just saw this posting:
The Stetten Fellowship seeks to encourage postdoctoral historical research and publication about biomedical sciences and technology and medicine that has been funded by NIH since 1945. Fellowships carry a stipend in the range of $45,000 per year and include health insurance and a work space, computer, and phone in the Office of NIH History. (Fellowships may be renewable to a maximum of 24 months, subject to satisfactory progress.) Stetten Fellows have access to the resources of the Office of NIH History, the collections of the Stetten Museum, the National Library of…
bioephemera | October 14, 2009
Kantor Set
Kevin Van Aelst
Several readers have suggested I blog about photographer Kevin Van Aelst in the past weeks. If you've missed out on his work, Kevin is the sort of artist who can portray cellular mitosis in the legendarily difficult medium of Krispy Kreme, or chromosomes in gummi worm, fingerprints in non-dairy creamer, or the Kantor Set in egg yolk. His work is clever, funny, and meticulous to a fault.
Circulatory System (Heart On Your Sleeve), 2009
Kevin Van Aelst
Here's what the artist has to say:
While the depictions of information--such as an EKG, fingerprint, map or…
bioephemera | October 8, 2009
Okay, so this apron by Aksel Varichon is awesome. Very fun. But what's with the oven mitt?
If the premise of the apron is that we're seeing internal anatomy partially revealed on the wearer's body, doesn't the matching mitt imply that we have little hearts and kidneys in our wrists?
The artist also makes tablecloths and placemats with similar designs, but those don't really bother me, because it's not like your table has viscera to be revealed. I'll admit, it's not like the apron's anatomy is accurate - it has one lung, a really bizarre circulatory system, and it's missing many major…
bioephemera | September 30, 2009
What You're Made Of (ABS)
Jason Freeny, 2009
Anatomy teachers: this would be an awesome quiz for your students, wouldn't it? :)
Jason Freeny is the digital artist behind Balloon Animal anatomy, Gummi Bear anatomy, and the dissected Gingerbread Man. Visit his site to see more! Via SheWalksSoftly.
bioephemera | September 21, 2009
On how many chilly fall days have you woken up and thought to yourself, "it's too cold for bare legs and too warm for wool tights - I need some vintage cell division illustration leggings"?
Okay, maybe never - but now you will.
From regeneration's etsy shop. Thanks to Laura for the heads up!
bioephemera | September 19, 2009
This toddler t-shirt from Twisted Twee comes in sizes up to 4 years, and is inspired by "just a few of the items my young daughter Betty consumed in her first year." The buttons I understand, but the toy soldier? And what is the toy soldier doing to that cow?
Remember, parents: B is for baby, barium swallow and bougienage!
Check out their "ride-a-dad" set, too. Cute!