Reading Response 1

In Silvia Di Marco's writing, Bodies of Knowledge - Anatomy and Transparency in Contemporary Art, she discusses the evolution of peoples' views of the human body in relation to mythology, dissection, art, and the self. Beginning with a gruesome Babylonian tale of Humbaba and Gilgamesh, she details the visceral addressing of the relation of protecting the insides by keeping them hidden, and goes on to describe the transition this provided into the idea of modesty until almost the 16th century, when public dissections became a commonplace observation for scientists, artists, and commoners alike. According to Di Marco, it wasn't until the Renaissance that the correlation between anatomy and art became as apparent, and began the thrust of art into addressing the inner body. To draw examples, the author introduces Laura Ferguson and Annie Cattrell, whose work both differently deals with internal human anatomy. Ferguson creates work based on real human anatomy in conjunction and comparison with her own internal structure, dealing with her journey of dealing with the pain of scoliosis. Cattrell's work, in contrast to Ferguson's, is informed of the human body, but uses that information in order to recreate the human body in the form of very visceral glass sculptures. I find it interesting the ways in which the accepted thought of the body's anatomy has changed from the 16th century, where viewing the internal body was fascinating and accepted. Now we view many works focused on the external body, it is rarer to see the internal form on a level beyond the complete skeleton.