The Eyes Have It

Alexander Tsiaras: The Birth Series

"Alexander Tsiaras, an artist for over 25 years, has focused in the last decade on creating works which utilize a combination of images from cutting edge technologies and real human data. He has developed much of this software himself, and the derived scans have been the source of inspiration for many of his works. The art transcends the unseen technology and allows us to experience the awe and beauty of our own physical existence and fragility."

Mr. Tsiaras, an award winning artist and photojournalist, has a new book due out later this year -- The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman : The Marvel of the Human Body, Revealed. He's also founder, president and CEO of Anatomical Travelogue.

Sensory Homunculi

Continuing with the theme initiated in my April Nineteenth post.

"This homunculus visualizes the connection between different body parts and areas in brain hemispheres." Created by Jaakko Hakulinen.

And...

"This model shows what a man's body would look like if each part grew in proportion to the area of the cortex of the brain concerned with its sensory perception." From The Natural History Museum, London.

Blue "Blood"

Andrea Seigel (author of Like the Red Panda) deconstructs imagery used to create the "aesthetic of fear" which has become increasingly prevalent in the marketing of feminine hygiene products. The comments related to her post, as well as those related to the Cup of Chicha post that point to it, cite many other good examples. One particularly insightful comment does a pretty good job of explaining why blue is the color of choice when a representation of menstrual fluid is required. I wonder how they specify exactly what shade of blue they want to use. What would be the appropriate Pantone color?

PBS: Probe the Brain

"Beginning in the 1940s, Canadian brain surgeon Wilder Penfield mapped the brain's motor cortex -- the area that controls the movement of your body's muscles. He did this by applying mild electric currents to the exposed brains of patients while they were in surgery. Now you can relive his exploration of the brain. In the following feature we give you an electric probe and an exposed brain. All you need to do is shock and observe." In addition to this somewhat dated shockwave, the site also offers an infographic (bottom of the page) illustrating how much of the brain's motor cortex is devoted to controlling specific body parts. Seems like a good candidate for inclusion in the next Tufte book.

Inside Out Collection

"The buildings and surroundings of La Trobe University, Beechworth Campus, were once occupied by Mayday Hills Hospital, a large psychiatric hospital which opened in 1867 and closed in the 1990s. The Inside Out Collection contains art by local residents, inspired by their memories of time there as patients. The work on display is representative of a much larger body of work."

NIH: Medical Posters

Medical posters drawn by artists at the National Institutes of Health help alert scientists to seminars on specialized subjects and attract public attention to medical topics of broad interest. Ideas for posters are most often gleaned from the human body itself. Many of the configurations found in science - a cell, muscle, or calcium channel - have great graphic appeal which the artist can often readily adapt into an eye-catching poster. The following medical posters represent a small fraction of the total number of posters designed over the past 30 years by artists in the NIH's Medical Arts and Photography Branch." [via Vigna-Marú]