Hi Blog readers,
I’m just back from a trip to the George Marshall Medical Museum in Worcester. It is a great little museum, covering the occasionally strange and gruesome history of medicine and surgery.
The museum covers the history of different specialities including: nursing and midwifery, obstetrics, ophthalmology and dentistry. What I love about museums like this, are the objects on display that make you take a second look and ask ‘what is that exactly?’ So, I’ve discovered there is a bizarre history behind false teeth. The museum has Waterloo teeth in their collection. These dubious looking dentures were made from teeth scavenged from the dead on the battlefield. Battles apparently provided an abundance of healthy teeth, as opposed to the teeth taken from the gallows or mortuary, which tended to be decaying. Therefore Waterloo teeth were a popular option for the wealthy and were preferred above porcelain, which took a while to be developed and accepted.
I essentially went to the museum to do some drawing. I didn’t draw Waterloo teeth – I drew sterilizer forceps instead. I’ll turn this sketch into artwork and show you that another day.
The museum’s website is http://www.medicalmuseum.org.uk/ and many thanks to the museum’s new curator for her time.
Claire
Content and artwork © Claire Jones 2011
Hi Blog readers,
I’ve completed my latest artwork ‘Pregnancy at 12 weeks.’
After posting the version in progress, I’ve made some subtle changes. I felt that the most important part of the image was the scaled up fetus, so to enhance this I’ve toned down the cross-section anatomy in the background.
In the earlier version there was a lighter section around the anatomy on the female – I felt this didn’t really add anything, so I’ve taken that away too.
I hope you like it, let me know your thoughts!
Claire
Image and text © Claire Jones 2011
I recently attended a debate titled “Arts vs Science – can one exist without the other?” held at Birmingham University (25 May 2011). This seems to be an ongoing debate affecting education and government policy.
On the panel:
Bonnie Greer OBE (Chair) – playwright, author and critic
Professor David Lodge – author
Professor Kate McLuskie – Director of the University’s Shakespeare Institute
Professor Paul Smith – University of Birmingham
Professor Lord Robert Winston – Imperial College London
The debate
I was curious because I couldn’t see where the debate lies, because to me both disciplines complement each other. As it turned out, the panel thought the same. It was agreed amongst both the panel and audience that the two disciplines of the Arts (including the visual, literary and performing arts) and the sciences have become separate within our culture. Professor Winston felt that the topic of debate was a nonsense – the issue is about how to improve communication between the two disciplines.
The panel briefly explored why the two disciplines have become separate. It was felt that the Arts and Sciences involve different ways of seeing the world, with the Arts reflecting beliefs and science about knowledge. The Arts also being about communication and language are therefore more accessible to a wider audience whilst science changes and develops rapidly – meaning it is difficult for non-scientists to keep up. This then has the impact that science can seem difficult even frightening if it is not explained.
Going through our education system, a person is generally encouraged to specialise in science or in the Arts. Part of the reason why came down to finances – it is expensive to educate people in both disciplines. However, this is doing our culture a disservice as scientists are less able to use the Arts to help them learn and communicate their science to others. Likewise it is then a challenge for non-scientists to understand and embrace science. This limit in communication hinders innovation and creativity with a reduced capacity to see the whole picture. It is important that people have an understanding of both disciplines as it allows us to have more informed debates and enables us to make informed polices regarding health care for example.
This debate was interesting for me as a medical artist. It does indeed take a long time to become educated in both disciplines. I love being able to use art to help me learn, and I find it exciting to then use this to help communicate science – be that to other scientists or the general public. By using art to communicate science makes it accessible and engaging and brings it to life.
© Claire Jones 2011