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Visualization of the Inner Body: From the Everyday to the Extraordinary

Introduction

Artist Annette Messager once stated, “I believe an artist doesn’t create something, but is

there to sort through, to show, to point out what already exits…” 1 By this she means that artists

do not invent anything new but instead bring attention to pieces of the everyday that are

constantly overlooked and sometimes taken for granted. The everyday is a large part of visual

culture and has been addressed by different visual culture scholars like Ben Highmore and

Stephen Johnstone. Highmore focuses on many different aspects of the everyday while

Johnstone addresses the everyday within contemporary artwork. While Messager gives a general

idea about artists and their relationship to the everyday, she does not address what happens to the

subject when someone brings attention to it. How does the everyday change when it becomes

visualized? Since the everyday covers a variety of subjects, it is necessary to narrow it down in

order to address this question.

The inner body, while not commonly thought of this way, is an example of the everyday

according to the descriptions given by Johnstone and mostly by Highmore.2 It plays a role in

people’s lives on a daily basis and can change depending on whose everyday is discussed. The

inner body also commonly remains hidden which makes it even more mysterious and appealing.

Although the inner body is a part of the everyday, when it becomes visualized through medical

technology, science and artwork, it becomes extraordinary. Through medical technology and

science, the visualization is aesthetically pleasing but is mostly viewed as a resource for

educational purposes. Learning and practicing professionals in the medical and scientific fields

1 Stephen Johnstone, “Introduction//Recent Art and The Everyday,” in The Everyday: Documents of Contemporary Art,(Massachusetts: MIT Press,2008),12 Ben Highmore, “Questioning the Everyday,” in Everyday Life Reader, (London: Routledge, 2002), 1-34

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have come a long way in regards to the ability to see the inner body and so have those outside of

these specific fields. From learning about the relationships between neurons to developing a

body exhibit for the public, this visualization has created a better way for all people to learn

about what goes on underneath their skin.

Although visualization of the inner body by artists can also create a learning experience,

the astonishing image becomes more of an aesthetically pleasing interaction. Artists like

Leonardo da Vinci, Andrew Carnie and David Becker use realistic interpretations to develop

intriguing imagery that can educate the viewer but mostly draws them in through pure beauty

and mysticism. Susan Emmerson on the other hand, uses the inner body in a more abstracted

form yet it creates a similar reaction. The body has also been represented in a way that was

intended to educate people about their bodies but was so visually stunning it was viewed as a

type of artwork. Through realism or abstraction, the work allows us to peak into an unknown

world that ironically exists as an everyday part of our lives. It mostly remains hidden day to day

but once it becomes noticed and visualized it becomes astonishing. Without it, we would not

exist and once we get a glimpse at what is happening underneath our skin, we want to know

more.

The Everyday and the Inner Body

Before fully understanding the magical and spectacular experience produced through

visualization, one must understand the everyday in relation to visual culture. Ben Highmore, a

scholar of cultural studies, provides a better understanding of what the everyday is by first

addressing what it is not. In the introduction of his book The Everyday Life Reader, Highmore

gives examples of what is not a part of the everyday by writing “Lightning striking TV sets for

instance, or your numbers winning the national lottery”.3 While the process of buying a lottery

3 Highmore, “Questioning Everyday Life,” 4

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ticket is the everyday, winning the jackpot is considered “exceptional”. The same goes for the act

of unplugging your TV in preparation for the rare chance lighting will strike it while you sleep.

The everyday consists of these types of routines that make up daily life. 4 At the same time, these

routines may differ depending on the person. While one person buys a lottery ticket everyday

another may have no interest in playing those odds.

Although everyone takes part in some sort of daily activity, the routine changes

depending on whose everyday is being addressed. 5 Highmore discusses these situations by

breaking them into different “tendencies” that play a role in a variety of people’s lives. From

particular verses general to micro-cultural (Feminine verses Masculine) verses macro-cultural

(individual experience verses global experience) the everyday involves a wide range of

variables.6 Since the everyday is so broad, the basic idea of whose everyday can be discussed

through gender roles or micro-cultural areas.

Through micro-cultural location in western society, history tells us that the feminine

everyday is defined by domesticity while the masculine everyday is one of the flâneur who

spends time in the street and public spaces. The domestic side represents a more repetitive

routine where as the masculine everyday is considered heroic and adventurous. While

fortunately, Western women today have a choice of whether or not they want to be a part of a

“feminine” or “masculine” everyday, there is still a difference between the activities depending

on whose everyday. A domestic role for instance, may consist of the routine of buying groceries,

cleaning, and cooking meals. A “masculine” role however, will allow the person to be a working

member of society whose everyday has more of a chance to become part of the exceptional. A

4 Johnstone, “Recent Art,” 15 Highmore, “Questioning,” 14-156 Highmore, “Questioning,” 17

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fireman or firewoman for example takes part in routines that remain part of their daily life but

each fire they are called to can create a different extraordinary experience.

After having a better understanding of the everyday, one might ask what any of this has

to do with the inner body. Since the inner body exists in everyday life, the real question to ask is

how could it not be a part of the discussion? Even though it is not visible on a daily basis, it still

exists in our daily lives and without it our everyday wouldn’t be possible. The inner body

includes everything from our skeletal structure to our organs and blood as well as what can’t be

seen with the naked eye; blood cells and neurons for example.

The rarity of visualization of the inner body is another example proving it is a part of the

everyday. Johnstone describes the everyday as existing all around us while at the same time it

exists nowhere.7 This is due to us simply not caring enough to look deeper or our complete

inability to see. Highmore also makes a statement that can refer to the inner body in relation to

the everyday.8 In the first chapter of Everyday Life and Cultural Theory, he writes, “The

everyday is also the home of the bizarre and mysterious”. While we know more about our bodies

today than we did in the past and there are still parts we can’t see or do not understand, it too

remains bizarre and mysterious.

The inner body also changes depending on whose everyday. For a healthy individual, the

inner body goes through routines and perhaps they do not have to think about what is happening

on the inside. The body functions as it should and there is no thought process that goes into

routine jobs like breathing or the heartbeat. While typically one does not have to put effort into

making their inner body function, the everyday changes when it goes from a healthy individual

to an unhealthy individual. When looking at someone with Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) for

7 Johnstone, “Recent Art,”28 Ben Highmore, “Figuring the everyday” in Everyday Life and Cultural Theory, (London: Routledge, 2002),3

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example, the relationship to their inner body shifts dramatically from someone with a normal

heart.9 They have to be more cautious about what they eat and how they move which alters their

everyday routine. For instance, those with CHF may be limited when it comes to taking part in

simple daily activities like cleaning or walking. This then lowers their level of activity and

changes their everyday experience. A similar shift will occur for each type of ailment depending

on what part of the body is at risk.

The amount of visibility of the inner body day to day also refers to whose everyday in

terms of their occupation. While most people do not come in contact with the inner body on a

regular basis, someone in the medical profession does. A surgeon for example, whose job not

only depends on thinking about the inner body, will also be involved in seeing and touching the

inner body more than someone who works outside of the profession. A doctor who works outside

of the operating room will also be more aware of the inner body but in a different way. A

pediatrician for example, may not see the inner body regularly but will think about it throughout

the day. They spend their day with a variety of patients who all have different needs. The

pediatrician is responsible to responding to those needs and in order to do so will be thinking

about what his happening inside of the body. Although it becomes second nature to them, they

still end up spending more time thinking about the inner body than a person who works outside

of that profession does.

Visualization through Medical Technology and Science

After understanding the relationship between the inner body and the everyday, it is

necessary to take a closer look at how the visualization of the inner body becomes extraordinary.

9Rita J Van den Berg-Emons,et al., “Factors Associated With the Level of Movement-Related Everyday Activity and Quality of Life in People With Chronic Heart Failure,” in Physical Therapy 85 (2005): 1340-41.

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Lisa Cartwright, scholar of subjects from film to visual culture, writes about the visualization of

the body in her book Screening the Body.10 Although the book mostly discusses visualization

through cinema, it can apply to any type of image of the body. She references Foucault who

stated that “the shift from eighteenth-century natural history to nineteenth-century biology is

marked by a change in relationship between representations and things.” Based on his statement,

she feels that life moves forward through a “new mode of representation.” 11 Without our ability

to visualize any form of biology including but not limited to the inner body, we would not be

able learn thus inhibiting our ability to move forward in life.

With the urge to discover more about our bodies, different devices were created along the

way to expand our knowledge. According to Dr. Michael E. Phelps, one developer of the original

PET scan, “The greatest turning points in science come by the development of a new instrument

to allow one to look at things that you have never seen before.”12 The more we were able to

visual the seemingly invisible, the more knowledge we gained. Some of these helpful

instruments include the sphygmoscope, a device used to visualize the pulse and the myograph

which records muscular contractions. 13 There were also many contributions from French

photographer, Etienne- Jules Marey.14 Marey, who was actually a trained physician, worked with

movement of the body and many consider him to be the first creator of motion film. He invented

the fusil photographique in 1882 which was a camera that took multiple pictures at 1/720 of a

second. Once the photographs were combined, the image appeared to be moving. His technique

eventually developed into cinematography which was adopted into the world of science used to

10 Lisa Cartwright, Screening the Body (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1995), 10.11 Cartwright, Screening the Body, 1012 Joseph Dumit, Picturing Personhood :Brain Scans and Biomedical Identity, (New Jersey: Princeton University Press,2004), 3613 Cartwright, Screening the Body, 1214 Ulrika Maude and Jane Macnaughton, The Body and the Arts,(London: Palgrave Macmillon, 2009),118

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study different body parts of animals.15 In 1898 for example, research Ludwig Braun filmed an

exposed beating heart of a dog in order to investigate the hearts contractions. Even now the

images are rather stunning and it’s hard to imagine the reaction created when they were first

shown.

Another important invention in regards to medical technology is the X-ray. While

machines like the X-ray have produced images that have become more commonly visible, the

experience with them is astonishing and was even more spectacular when they were first

introduced to the world. The first X-ray’s were taken in 1895 by a man named Wilhelm

Roentgen. 16 Roentgen received his degree in mechanical engineering but was also interested in

photography and physics.17 His invention created the first visual of the skeletal structure and

organs within the body without using dissection.18 This image was the hand of Roentgen’s wife

(Figure 1) and was so marvelous it was reprinted in no less than 1,100 publications and worked

its way around the world. Try to imagine only understanding the body, if at all, through images

created by studying a corpse and then seeing an X-Ray for the first time. It was an incredible

image that opened a door to a whole new world.

These images were so incredible, they even impacted writers. In The Magic Mountain,

written by Thomas Mann in 1924, he describes witnessing an X-Ray being taken through the

eyes of his main character, Hans Castorp.19 He writes:

Hans Castorp saw exactly what he should have expected to see, but which no man was ever intended to see and which he himself had never presumed he would be able to see: he saw his own grave. Under that light, he saw the process of corruption anticipated, saw the flesh in which he moved decomposed, expunged, dissolved into airy nothingness- and inside was the delicately turned skeleton of his right hand…

15 Cartwright, 2016 Maude, The Body and The Arts, 11817 Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles, “The Discovery of X-Rays: Seeing is Believing”, Naked to the Bone, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press,1997),1718 Maude, The Body and the Arts, 11819 Maude, The Body and the Arts, 119

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Mann was clearly mystified by the possibility of seeing through the flesh and to the bone. It was

so bizarre that he even created a connection between life and death.

Although currently images from an X-Ray are more commonly seen, this does not lessen

the amazing experience one has with their own X-Ray. For instance popular hospital television

shows like E.R. and crime dramas like CSI often show images of an MRI or an X-ray but they

are either fake or have no connection to the viewer 20. Someone may see these images on

television everyday but when they come into contact with their own, it is a bizarre experience. If

a person broke their wrist for example, and received an x-ray, it would be an image of their wrist

not just some character on a television show. This would then develop a personal connection

with the image which doesn’t happen through images from the media. Even if the person had a

serious problem with injuries they would be encountering a different bone, a different break or a

different tear thus becoming an abnormal experience.

For someone like Roentgen, science was a way for the world to expand its knowledge

and through his experiments he was able to create images that would do just that.21 Since the

images were so appealing, people wanted to create some of their own which taught them the

process of taking an X-Ray. 22 X-Rays also became a forensics tool that would teach the jury the

truth. In order to make a case, prosecutors could now bring in an X-Ray to show foreign objects

lodged inside a part of the body.23 The X-ray has been used in many different ways but currently

it seems to be most helpful in medical situations. It can be a guide to direct a surgeon where to

operate or show the depth of a break in a bone. No matter the reason, the image has taught

people for years and continues to do so.20 Petra Kuppers “Visions of Anatomy: Exhibitions and Dense Bodies,” in A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, (Providence: Brown University,2004),12321 Kevles, “The discovering of X-Rays,” 1922 Kevles, “The Discovery of X-Rays,” 2523 Kevles, “The discovery of X-Rays,” 30

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Another machine that produces images of the inner body is an ultrasound. For a pregnant

woman, an ultrasound will show the sonogram of a life forming inside of her body. This

visualization becomes quite extraordinary especially to new parents. While the new mother can

feel shifts in her body she may not fully understand the process until it is visualized. While

discussing her first ultrasound, one new mother described it as an exciting experience that

“opened a whole world of possibility.”24 A later ultrasound included the heartbeat which was the

first movement of her child that became visible and completely changed how she viewed the

process. Knowing she was pregnant was a different experience from actually seeing it. As soon

as she saw even the small bean like image she immediately became attached and protective. This

connection developed even further as her child become more visible throughout her pregnancy

(Figure 2).25 The visualization allowed her to get a grasp on what it really meant to be pregnant

and created an unordinary and beautiful experience.

This process happens with existing parents as well. While they may have seen the images

of their previous child/children in the form of a sonogram, it is not something that happens

consistently. The next child is a new form and a different life than their first. Although the

process is repeated, it is not the same experience as before and the visualization creates a real

connection to the new, unborn child. Although pregnancy in society is a common occurrence,

when focusing on the individual it becomes a process that is not a part of the everyday and the

visualization becomes even more unordinary.

While the sonogram is aesthetically appealing, the ultrasound can also be a tool used for

education. Similar to the X-Ray, an ultrasound is useful in the medical setting and helps guide

the doctor through different parts of the inner body. It can visualize muscles, tendons, and organs

24 Jaimee Jaucian, email message to author, November 18, 201325 Jaucian, email

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but is most commonly known for producing sonograms. Since the technician was already trained

on what to look for, the sonogram will be used to teach the mother or parents different things

about their unborn child. It can teach the parents how healthy their child is or what they may

need to be concerned about. It will also teach them how far along the pregnancy is and

eventually and tell them the sex of the child.

Another thing that has been made possible through advances in technology is the

visualization of neurons through staining and microscopy.26 Due to their magnificent nature, the

images have been transformed in different ways and many scientists didn’t expect the popularity

of them. The neuron has inspired artists from Andrew Carnie to David Becker and even been

incorporated into films like Fight Club (2000).27 The art-science field has grown as artists have

spent time looking into other disciplines for inspiration and the use of science in art continues to

grow.

While scientists also find the images appealing, they are more focused on the research at

hand. Since the first discovery of the individual neuron in the 1870s, scientists have continued to

use the visualization process to learn more about the brain and feel that it is just as important to

understand them as it is to recognize their beauty. 28 Dr. Richard Wingate, an expert in

Developmental Neurology and researcher at King’s College in London, explains how the ability

to visualize the neuron has been extremely helpful in understanding it. Through an initial study

of the brain, it was suspected that the brain was a “mesh of interconnected fibers.” 29 After being

able to visualize the neurons, this theory was quickly erased and neurologists discovered not just

what the neurons looked like but how they interact and shift as they grow. Dr. Wingate writes 26 Richard Wingate and Marius Kwint, ”Imagining the brain cell: the neuron in visual culture,” in Perspectives 7(2006), 745-5027 Wingate and Kwint,”Imagining the brain cell,” 74928 Wingate and Kwint, “Imagining the brain cell,” 74529 “Magic Forest: Slide Dissolve Work,” Andrew Carnie, accessed November 5, 2013. http://www.tram.ndo.co.uk/magicforest.htm

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“Sections and snapshots remain, for the time being, the basis of our understanding of

neuroanatomy.” 30 In other words, the images created have become our true connection to

understanding the brain.

Visualization through Art

Since our inner bodies are such a mysterious place, when we see images like that of the

neuron they become extremely aesthetically appealing and feed into our wonder. What else is

happening in there that we cannot see? How can this actually exist within our bodies and at such

a small scale? The more questions we ask the more we use these images to help us find the

answers. Although imagery of the inner body produced by medical technology is mostly used for

educational purposes, as stated previously, the images also become inspiration for many artists.

Since most of the images allow the inner body to be described as mystical and mysterious an

overall appeal is formed. While images have been the source of inspiration for some time, some

artists had no choice but to study the body up close and personal.

Leonardo da Vinci for example, is described as painter first and scientist second.31 To da

Vinci however, science was just as important to him as his artwork. While observing his

drawings of the human anatomy, these interests become clear. Using cadavers as sources,

Leonardo created over 550 drawings that depict the human anatomy from the fetus (Figure 3) to

the muscular structure (figure 4).32 He wanted to understand how the body worked and how it

related to everyday movements and emotions in order to transfer these ideas into his paintings.

His drawings, especially for the time of their creation, were spectacular but unfortunately not

30 “Magic Forest: Slide Dissolve Work,” Andrew Carnie, accessed November 5, 2013. http://www.tram.ndo.co.uk/magicforest.htm31 Martin Clayton, “Medicine: Leonardo’s anatomy years,” in Nature 484(2012), 314, accessed November 19, 2013. 32 Clayton, “Leonardo’s anatomy years,” 315

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well known during his lifetime.33 He intended to publish his findings but because of his

perfectionist ways, he was unable to finish his work before his death in 1519. If he had, it would

have become a teaching tool in Europe and changed the way anatomy was understood at that

time. His beautiful drawings were unlike any other and represented an unordinary exposure to

such an everyday part of life.

Santiago Ramón y Cajal (1852-1934) was another artist interested in the inner body. He

first worked as a neurohistologist in Spain and discovered that neurons were independent from

the others. This discovery was a huge turnaround for scientific research. 34 The visualization

through the microscope proved previous scientific theories wrong which in essence changed how

we currently view the brain. Cajal also used science to reach back into his first love; art. He

created work that was inspired by the things he could see through the microscope. For example,

one of his sketches, which is also one of the first ever drawings of the neuron (figure 5) was

based off of a stain of the human retinal cell. Cajal’s work as a neurohistologist was

groundbreaking and his work as an artist created inspiration for others.

Similar to da Vinci and Cajal, Andrew Carnie is also and example of an artist who is a

part of the Art-Science culture.35 Carnie began his journey through his original interest in

memory and memory storage but he became captivated with the neural images because of how

aesthetically pleasing they were. His installation titled Magical Forest 2002 (Figure 6), has been

exhibited in many places including its original location at the Science Museum in London. The

structure of his installation is best described in Imagining the brain cell: the neuron in visual

culture:36

33Clayton, “Leonardo’s anatomy years,” 334 Benjamin Fraser, “Madrid, Histological City: The Scientific, Artistic, and Urbanized Vision of Santiago Ramon y Cajal,” in Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures 67 (2013):3,accessed November 19,2013, doi: 10.1080/00397709.2013.82005835 Wingate and Kwint, “Imagining the brain cell”, 74536 Wingate and Kwint, “Imagining the brain cell”, 746

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A sequence of images is projected onto three semi-translucent screens that lie between them; images rise from one side and dissolve into images rising from the other side. The hand drawn images depict a growing of forest neurons; the work begins inside the skull and ends in a black void. The screens mirror the confocal microscope used to collect data on developing neurons. The to- and fro-ing between projectors lets one enter the world of the brain in different ways; sometimes as a spectator, clinically viewing the complex neuronal forms, and sometimes being immersed in the images as if one were inside the brain.

The neuron’s structure is obviously relatable to the structure of a leafless tree in winter.

For this reason, Carnie plays with the idea of multiplying them and overlapping them in specific

areas to create a sense of depth and feeling of a forest. His imagery becomes relatable through

nature yet incredibly fantastical at the same time. Some of his images reflect the growing brain in

the skull which makes the connection from the neuron images to the brain. 37 When viewing the

neurons by themselves however, one gets lost in them through the transparency and use of color

and it becomes almost dreamlike. We can relate it to a space that is similar to one we have

previously interacted with but at the same time it feels like a brand new environment that we

want to be a part of.

In order to develop his installation and learn more about the neuron, Carnie worked

closely with Dr. Wingate. He had access to neuron images and learned similar techniques used

by one of his inspirations. As mentioned previously, Ramón y Cajal created drawings based off

of images created when using a staining technique. This process is similar to the one used today

by scientists like Dr. Wingate and his drawings continue to have importance as well. Carnie finds

inspiration in Cajal’s work and describes it as other worldly. Although the images represent

something that is a part of the everyday, they clearly become dreamlike or surreal as they are

visualized. 38

37 “Magic Forest: Slide Dissolve Work,” Andrew Carnie38 “Podcast: The Magic Forest,” The Beautiful Brain, accessed November 14, 2013, http://thebeautifulbrain.com/2010/08/podcast-the-magic-forest/

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While Carnie spent a lot of time working with the brain, his current works reflect another

part of the body. For his next exhibit, which he has been working on since 2004, he and three

other artists are developing work inspired by “emotional and psychological effects of heart

transplantation.”39 With the help of a cardiologist, philosopher, nurse, psychiatrist, and

sociologist, the artists will explore the change that happens to a body when a transplant takes

place. The artists that Carnie chose to work with are ones who have previously worked with

scientists and understand the research involved. The work ranges from two-dimensional works to

video and sculpture. Some of his images look as though they were produced in a similar way to

Magical Forest, but instead overlaps a male figure with what appears to be the circulatory

system (Figure 7). This visualization again creates a spectacular experience that in no could be

labeled as the everyday.

Carnie and Cajal are not the only people that have been inspired by the microscopic part

of the body. David Becker, Professor in Tissue Repair and Regeneration at Lee Kong Chian

School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, has also created work involving

neurons. Although he may not work as a professional artist, his photograph of a neuron and

blood vessel (Figure 8) won an award during its display in the exhibit titled Visions of Science in

2001.40 Although his purpose is mainly for research, his photography is extremely stunning. He

takes something that is a part of the everyday especially his own everyday, and turns it into a

spectacular and magical image.

Susan Emmerson is another artist who is inspired by the inner body but not just on a

microscopic level. In her work she wants to show how art can easily connect to body and

science. 41 In her paintings she represents anything from parts of organs, like in her piece 39 “Andrew Carnie Heart Project,” Andrew Carnie, accessed November 30, 2013. http://andrewcarnie.org.uk/heart/introduction.html40 Wingate and Kwint, 74941 “Susan Emmerson,” accessed November 14,2013, http://susanemmerson.com/statement

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Anatomy Book No.11, 2012 (Figure 9) to sperm-like forms in her painting Anatomy Book No.22,

2013 (Figure 10). She mainly uses bright acrylics on a black background to create a high

contrast. Suddenly, the inner workings of the body which are often thought of as unpleasant or

unappealing to look at, become beautiful. The work calls attention to how we are connected and

allows one to see the inner workings as something more mystical and appealing. The contrast of

the black background brings even more attention to the imagery and how one form connects to

the other.

Emmerson also creates carefully constructed installations made of Tyvek (plastic paper)

cut to create structures that feel inspired by microscopic parts of the body. She describes these

pieces as “flowing, expanding, growing, repeating and proliferating” structures that relate to

“qualities of live organisms”. Since they are installations, the viewer becomes immersed in these

structures and interacts with them in a different way than with two-dimensional work. Her piece

Methistanai, 2013 (Figure 11) moves across the wall as if it is a growing and breathing thing and

Emmerson relates this to work to the spread of disease. Visualizing it becomes a way for the

viewer to fully understand the mass growth of disease and, while the work is beautiful, it

becomes slightly frightening as it creeps across the wall. As the piece appears to rest a small

distance away from the wall, a shadow is developed. This makes the piece jump away from the

wall even further which crowds the viewers space even more. While one may be able to think

about disease and feel that they understand it, the visualization of her instillations makes it more

real and allows room for a different type of emotional connection to the work.

Along with her installations and paintings, Emmerson creates ink drawing. They are very

interesting because while her paintings use color as a way of drawing in the viewer and creating

a connection to beauty, her drawings pull in the audience differently. Similar to her other work,

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they are very organic and detailed yet relate to the body on a more microscopic level. They are

much more visceral than her paintings but continue to evoke a sort of elegance. The variety of

textures she uses is also appealing and makes you want to touch the work to fully understand

what these objects feel like. The way she brings the inner body to life in her work continues to

push the bizarre and mystery of the body while developing a relationship with the viewer like no

other.

While discussing the inner body with Emmerson, she describes encountering her work as

a personal experience. She said that when a person comes in contact with work that reflects

something that exists in them, a private connection is made. They connect it to their struggles

with their own body as well as struggles that loved ones have. For example, someone who sees

disease as an image may relate it to a disease that their brother or sister has. For this reason, the

work further steps out of the everyday and into a spectacular experience. The visualization

allows for a private moment between the viewer and the work which is not something that

happens on a daily basis.

Another form of art, while not thought of that way at first, is the closest to displaying the

real inner body as possible and for this reason we interact with it in a different way. The Body

Worlds exhibit (figure 12), created by medical doctor and researcher Gunther von Hagens, was

developed to bring the inner body to the public. 42He uses skinned plastinated human corpses that

were donated to science and places them into everyday positions. While the exhibit is formed

from actual corpses, they are described as being as close to displaying the real inner body

because the plastication process slightly alters the reality. According to Petra Kuppers, author of

Visions of Anatomy: Exhibitions and Dense Bodies, the way the bodies are displayed alters

reality as well. He writes that they are “too much like museum exhibits and too little like the

42 Kuppers, “Visions of Anatomy,” 126

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visitors own body”.43 The figures are no longer living beings and the plastic effect creates a

barrier that allows one to view them more as statues regularly seen in museums than a person

who was once living.

While it is not and may never be possible to create an exhibit that does not have to alter

the flesh in order to preserve it, the work still creates a completely unusual experience for the

individual viewing it. Although standing in front of a figure that is set up in a position that would

be seen in the everyday, the actual body standing in front of the viewer is not one that could be

seen in the everyday. A skinless figure would not be able to perform gymnastics (Figure 13) or

skateboard (Figure 14), but this allows people to see what the inner body looks like during

different activities. When describing the interaction that happens between the figures and the

viewer, Kuppers writes, “aware of what is inside of us through seeing what is in front of us

making the connection back to the self, a connection that is by no means “natural”. 44 Although

one may be able to think about their inner body, they don’t normally do this while standing in

front of a version of it. For this reason, the exhibit creates a completely unnatural experience.

Although a person usually observes these pieces in a room filled with other people, it

becomes a rather personal experience just as Emmerson describes the interaction with her work.

The inner body is personal to each individual as it relates to what is currently happening inside of

them or someone they know. It can connect to their current or past injuries and creates questions

of wonder about what would happen if they were stripped to this level. When I saw the exhibit in

2011, I constantly related what I was seeing to what kind of shape my body was in. Through my

years of being an athlete I had issues with my knees and continued to wonder what kind of

scarring took place and what it would look like if was pealed apart like the figures standing

43 Kuppers, “Visions of Anatomy,”13744 Kuppers, “Visions of Anatomy,”127

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before me. It was an overall amazing experience. The thought that these beings standing before

me were once alive was hard to grasp but the ability to see the details of our inner bodies was

amazing. Most of them were set up so the viewer could walk completely around the body and see

how the muscles connected and overlapped. The viewer was able to see muscles from one side

and follow it around the body to the connecting areas.

Everyone that has viewed the exhibit has developed a different reaction to it. Kupper

describes it as being a reference to life and death and he is not alone.45 According to the Body

Worlds Exhibit website, 57% of the viewers said they thought of life and death while exploring

the exhibit while79% of the people felt that the body was something to marvel over and 68% left

the exhibit wanting to change their lifestyle to a healthier one. 46 While the exhibit involved

interactions that could be created by a regular art exhibit, it was also rather successful as an

educational resource which was von Hagen’s goal in the first place. He said he wanted to “teach

through art” by displaying the body in the most realistic way and that’s exactly what he did.47

Its stunning visual qualities draw in the crowd but once they are in, learning takes place.

Most people have learned through illustrations or models in a science class however the exhibit

does something completely different. When asked about how this provides an unusual

experience, this was the response:

The use of authentic specimens allows a thorough examination and study of disease,

physiology, and anatomy that you cannot find in models, textbooks, or photos. In

addition, the exhibition allows visitors to understand that each and every body has its

45 Kuppers, “Visions of Anatomy,” 14046Visitors’ Reactions to Body Worlds,” February 22 June 19, 2009: 4, accessed December 5, 2013. http://www.bodyworlds.com/Downloads/englisch/Media/Press%20Kit/Kit%20BW4%20MAN/12_LanSurvey_mosi_0408.pdf47 Kuppers, “Visions of Anatomy,” 126

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own unique features, even on the inside. The experience in other cities has clearly

demonstrated that real specimens fascinate exhibit visitors in a way that models cannot.48

Considering that 86% of viewers said that they felt that they knew more about the inner body

after experiencing the exhibit, it is fair to say this statement is true. The work educates and

visually stimulates at the same time producing an experience like no other.

Conclusion

Overall everyone has some sort of relationship to the everyday and more specifically to

their inner bodies. Although at first one may not address the inner body as something as simple

as the everyday, according to Johnstone and Highmore’s definitions, it should be labeled as such.

It exists on a daily basis and is clearly a part of the bizarre and mysterious. The inner body also

mostly remains hidden in our daily lives however depending on whose everyday is at hand, it can

be more visible to some than others. A surgeon will interact with it regularly both visually and

physically while a person outside of the medical profession only interacts with their inner body

through daily functions. It also affects the everyday of people depending on their level of health

and awareness for their health.

Although the inner body is a member of the everyday, when visualized it shifts to the

extraordinary. Images produced through medical technology like X-Rays and sonograms or

through microscopic photography of neurons were meant to be educational. These images have

taught members of their field for hundreds of years and the medical devices created along the

way have helped the process. The visualization of neurons for example provided evidence to

debunk original theories and the X-Ray provided images of the inner body without the need to

48 “Body Worlds,” Gunther von Hagens, accessed December 5, 2013. http://www.bodyworlds.com/en/exhibitions/questions_answers.html#5

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cut through skin. While they were originally meant to be a way to educate, the images produced

were and continue to be so astonishing that many artists use them for inspiration in their work.

While Johnstone writes that a focus on the everyday in art brings “art and life closer

together”49, when it comes to the inner body, that connection goes much deeper. From works of

Leonardo Da Vinci to Gunther von Hagens, art opens a new world to the public. It gives people a

new relationship to science and a better understanding of themselves. Work like the Body Worlds

exhibit is a relatively new process but its success as an educational exhibit is profound. People

were able to see the body up close and not only understand how an inner body is connected but

also relate it to their own. The exhibit then goes back and forth from being an educational

experience to an artistic and personal one.

The visualization of the body from microscopic structures to skeletal structures develop

an interaction that becomes so stunning it draws the audience further into the work. From there

they create a personal relationship that cannot and will not happen simply by thinking about their

bodies. Images in general are powerful. They surround us in our lives and they can influence the

way we think. According to W.J.T. Mitchell, a scholar of visual culture, there is no such thing a

purely visual image which makes them even more powerful.50 He argues that the other senses are

involved when observing any form of visual media. When applying his theory to the

visualization of the inner body, it is easier to understand the extraordinary relationship that

occurs between the audience and the image. They are not just seeing the work because it also

takes them to a certain smell, sound, or touch. The viewer will attach meaning to an image as

well. Whether they vocalize or internalize the meaning, some sort of observation, connection or

49 Johnstone, “Recent art”, 2 50 W.J.T. Mitchell, “There Are No Visual Media,” in Journal of Visual Culture,4:(2005)

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judgment will happen.51This type of occurrence wouldn’t take place without the visual and it

certainly would not happen in the everyday.

51 Mitchell, “There are No Visual Media,” 8

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Images

Figure 1- Wilhelm Roentgen, Frau Roentgen’s hand, 1895

Figure 2- Ezra Schneider Sonogram, 2013

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Figure 3- Leonardo da Vinci, Fetus study, 1513

Figure 4- Leonardo da Vinci, muscular study, 1511

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Figure 5- Santiago Romon y Cajal, Neuron, 1852

Figure 6- Andrew Carnie, images from Magical Forest, 2002

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Figure 7- Andrew Carnie, image from The Heart Project, 2004-2014

Figure 8- David Becker, Neuron and Blood Vessel, Visions of Science, 2001

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Figure 9- Susan Emmerson, Anatomy Book No.11, acrylic on board, 2012

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Figure 10-Susan Emmerson, Anatomy Book No.22, 2013, acrylic on board

Figure 11- Susan Emmerson, Methistanai, 2013, cut Tyvek

Figure 12- Body Worlds Exhibit Poster

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Figure 13- Figure from Body Worlds Exhibit

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Figure 14- Figure from Body Worlds Exhibit