[Nhcoll-l] dissertation --- "Aesthetics of fluid-preserved animal and human bodies: An example of research-based art"

[Karen Reeds]

Here's a historical/cultural  sidelight to the nhcoll discussions about
specimens in preservation fluids. I spotted this on a listing of recent
dissertations in history of medicine/science:
http://www.hsls.pitt.edu/histmed/dissertations

Karen
Karen Reeds, PhD, FLS
Historian of science and medicine
Independent exhibit curator
Museum and editorial consultant
karenmreeds at gmail.com
Princeton Research Forum, a community of independent scholars:
http://www.princetonresearchforum.org/


http://search.proquest.com/docview/1466302154
Aesthetics of fluid-preserved animal and human bodies: An example of
research-based art

2013 2013

 Abstract(summary)

Aesthetics of fluid-preserved animal and human bodies: an example of
research-based art is based on an interdisciplinary art investigation and
intervention on publicly displayed visual artifacts containing animal and
human materials. It consists of this dissertation text and two of my art
projects, Xenotransplantation P56 (2012) and A Dying Art (2013), which use
examples from pre-modern fluid-preserved specimens. Xenotransplantation P56
is an observation on a series of historical fluid-preserved specimens at
the Hunterian Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England prepared
by English surgeon John Hunter in the late 1700s. Through critical analysis
of this case, I propose an argument that anatomical specimens, which are
preservations of actual animal and human body parts, may become subject to
social controversy, misinterpretation and mystification, due to their
uniquely strong cultural symbolism. A Dying Art is a hands-on intervention
on the historical fluid-preserved specimen collection at the Mütter Museum
of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, in which I investigate issues
related to the dissociation of their identity with contemporary clinical
medicine. A Dying Art delivers the idea that the role of Western medical
museum as an institution has been continuously redefined according to
changing social and cultural norms towards public display of human body
parts.
Indexing (details)
Subject
Fine arts;
Science history;
Museum studies
Classification
0357: Fine arts
0585: Science history
0730: Museum studies
Identifier / keyword
Social sciences, Communication and the arts, Aesthetics, Anatomical
specimen,Conservation, Fluid preservation, Institutional critique, Medical
museum
Title
Aesthetics of fluid-preserved animal and human bodies: An example of
research-based art
Author
Lee, Jung Yoon
Number of pages
231
Publication year
2013
Degree date
2013
School code
0185
Source
DAI-A 75/02(E), Aug 2014
Place of publication
Ann Arbor
Country of publication
United States
ISBN
9781303514609
Advisor
High, Kathy, Staniszewski, Mary Anne
Committee member
Hahn, Tomie, Zurr, Ionat
University/institution
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Department
Electronic Arts
University location
United States -- New York
Degree
Ph.D.
Source type
Dissertations & Theses
Language
English
Document type
Dissertation/Thesis
Dissertation/thesis number
3601010
ProQuest document ID
1466302154
Copyright
Copyright ProQuest, UMI Dissertations Publishing 2013
Document URL
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1466302154
Database
ProQuest Dissertations & Theses (PQDT)
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