新世界「透明標本」 – New World Transparent Specimens is an exhibition composed of specimens created using a preservation and dyeing technique typically used for scientific purposes to examine the skeletal system. Tomita uses an enzyme to dissolve the natural proteins in the soft tissue. He then injects magenta dyes into the bones and blue dyes into the cartilages, highlighting the usually unseen internal structures. The creature is then preserved in a jar of glycerin. Some of Tomita’s smaller specimens (fish, shrimp and […]
Through Art Taipei 2011, the longest-standing art fair in Asia organized by Taiwan Art Gallery Association since 1992, I spotted Li Hongjun, who attempts to convey the conversion space of existing objects such as the vacuity of life and death and the space-time distance of reality and illusion—the very same idea as Li claims seen from Gunther von Hagens’ plasticized human specimens on display. Born in Shaanxi Province and currently living in Beijing, Li Hongjun attained his degrees in Folk […]
The exhibition Brainstorm: investigating the brain through art & science at GV Art in London has been called by a politician as “degrading”, “disrespectful” and “unacceptable.” This work titled Headache by Helen Pynor is one of many that showcase brains in different ways, from films of neurological examinations to actual human brain tissues. GV Art in London is one of the few places licensed to display human tissue in Britain. To the politician’s concerns, Dr. Dexter, scientific director of the […]
Sidetracking from studying to pay a tribute to Jason Freeny and Domo Kun.
These mysterious, nightmarish and beautiful works of art were created by Zdzisław Beksiński (b. 1929), a renowned Polish painter, photographer and sculptor. With no formal training in art, Beksiński mainly painted with oils on handmade hardboard panels while listening to classical music. Beksiński refused to name and interpret his works, and even burned a selection of them in his backyard claiming them to be “too personal”. Tragically, Beksiński was murdered in 2005 by the teenage son of his long time […]
Caution: Content may be repulsive to some. My Gross Anatomy class at times reminds me of Joel-Peter Witkin’s work. Joel-Peter Witkin is an American photographer whose work often deals with themes such as death, corpses (and sometimes dismembered portions thereof), and outsiders such as dwarfs, transsexuals, hermaphrodites, and physically deformed people. Witkin’s complex tableaux often recall religious episodes or famous classical paintings. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1939 with a twin brother and a stillborn triplet sister. When young, his parents divorced due to religious […]