DISSECTION/FRAGMENTATION: THE FEMALE ANATOMICAL BODY …ccca.concordia.ca/academy/papers_PDFs/1-amanda/Amanda1.pdf · DISSECTION/FRAGMENTATION: THE FEMALE ANATOMICAL BODY IN THE ...

ARTH 648B-2 Envisioning Digital and Virtual Forms of Exhibitions: The Curatorial Translation of Theory into Practice, 2012

DISSECTION/FRAGMENTATION: THE FEMALE ANATOMICAL BODY IN THE WORK OF JEANNIE THIB AND CATHERINE HEARD THROUGH THE VESALIAN TROPE OF DE HUMANI CORPORIS FABRICA LIBRI SEPTEM Amanda Brownridge “The fragment – incomplete, detached, isolated – is of an uncertain signifying power. Potentially little more than detritus, it can also possess extraordinarily resonant dimensions: the glimpse of memory, the residue of history, the power of metaphor.”1 Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564), a Flemish anatomist and physician, has often been called the

father of modern anatomy, having published in 1543 one of the most important founding texts in

the field. His magnum opus, De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem, aimed to challenge

traditions that had long been entrenched in the practice; that of basing knowledge of the human

body on the dissection of animals and notably the theories of Claudius Galen (AD 129 - c. 200).

Vesalius presented his understanding of the human body in a way that was particularly creative

and it is for this reason that the images found within the Fabrica can be studied in both the

realms of science and art.

Through an analysis of the illustrations found primarily in books II and V of Andreas Vesalius’

Fabrica, one observes a certain theatrical quality. It is interesting to question Vesalius’ use of

theatricality and examine how and why it was applied to anatomical illustration. The images on

the one hand emphasize Vesalius’ use of human dissections in his search for knowledge. While

showcasing the structure and functioning of the human body in a significantly detailed manner,

the illustrations simultaneously camouflage the grotesque nature of these dissections through the

application of artistic traditions, notably those of classical sculpture.2 This technique of

camouflage is further emphasized by the placement of his “subjects” within pastoral landscapes.3

The dual nature of these prints helps to protect the work from critique; Vesalius could not be


reprimanded for representing dead bodies, as his subjects seem very much alive. At the time of

Vesalius' publication, the act of dissecting human bodies was frowned upon, and in some

circumstances, it considered illegal. Vesalius was often forced to dissect the bodies of executed

criminals, or even dig up fresh graves in order to procure cadavers for his scientific

investigations. The sculptural references in these images are related to the Canon of Polykleitos

through their use of ideal mathematical proportions and the technique of Contrapposto, as well

as pastoral landscapes represented as panoramas of rolling hills, distant villages, meadows and

trees. 4 These elements were central to Vesalius’ publication and allowed for the creation of a

performance space in which he was able to stage his thoughts on the functioning of the human

body.

In his quest for truth, Vesalius went to great lengths to completely dissect, classify and organize

the body according to various parts or sections. Observing minute details, he was able to

construct a more accurate, nuanced understanding of the whole. This concept is interesting when

examined in conjunction with the work of two contemporary Canadian artists, Jeannie Thib (b.

1955) and Catherine Heard (b. 1966). Both artists appropriate the notion of dissection into their

artistic production and incorporate traditions of anatomical illustration, in particular Vesalius'

fragmentary view of the body. This allows for a microcosmic analysis with macrocosmic intent,

as a way of situating the self within a larger historical narrative. The approach of fragmentation

as a method of artistic representation thus functions like scientific dissection. This exhibition

investigates the correlations between the types of images found within Vesalius’s publication

and the works of Jeannie Thib and Catherine Heard.


Andreas Vesalius

Plate 27: Book 2, 1543

De Humani Corporis Fabrica Libri Septem

Saunders, J. and O’Malley, C. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius of

Brussels: with Annotations and Translations, a Discussion of the Plates and their Background,

Authorship and Influence, and a Biographical Sketch of Vesalius. New York: Classics of

Medicine Library, 1993.

Andreas Vesalius

(Detail) Plate 57: Book 5, 1543


Saunders, J. and O’Malley, C. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius...


Jeannie Thib

Terra Incognita (I), 1993

Linocut on mulberry paper, ink

250 x 200 cm

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=64658&title=Terra+Incognita+%28l%29&artist=Jeannie+Thib&link_id=956


Terra Incognita (I) (1993) is a linocut printed on eight sheets of mulberry paper that have been

pieced together to form an almost life sized image of a black silhouette of a female body. An

imagined representation of the human nervous system is depicted in white on the black

silhouette, while drawings of imagined organs hover around the woman. A scientific legend

attempting to relate the organs to the body falls short in doing so as letters seem to match up

with numbers in a completely incoherent fashion. The forms used to describe human organs

have been appropriated by Thib from anatomical illustrations from a time when human

dissection was forbidden, and thus medical treatises of the sort were based on an assumed

knowledge, or the dissection of animals. The combination of appropriating images that represent

an imagined view of the body with a system of classification that cannot function as such results

in a fragmented understanding and representation of the body. This image is representational of

the type of model that Vesalius aimed to rectify in his publication, one that bases its knowledge

of the body on what one expects to see, and not what one has actually encountered through

proper scientific investigation, and therefore dissection. In this image, the notion of

fragmentation/dissection can be understood in a twofold manner. First by demonstrating that

fragmentation may be representative of a lack of knowledge or information, but also as a starting

point for investigation, be that scientific or artistic.5


Jeannie Thib

Augur, 1997

Screen print on wooden panels, paint, ink

16 panels, each: 61 x 61 x 7cm

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=64676&title=Augur&artist=Jeannie+Thib&link_id=956


Andreas Vesalius



Saunders, J. and O’Malley, C. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas...


In contrast with Terra Incognita, which focuses on the full female body and its anatomical parts,

Augur (1997) is made up of sixteen wood panels, each an individual image of an intestine.

Interestingly, the word “augur” means to predict or foretell events based on the interpretation of

sign or omens, as was often used in the ancient practice of reading the future in the entrails of

sacrificial animals. Each print has been centrally positioned on the panel, and displayed in two

rows of eight to emphasize symmetry and balance. The pictures of the intestines are based on a

variety of medical treatises, such as medieval manuscripts, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks and

even contemporary western medical texts. Thib has drawn patterns, text and diagrams into each

intestine, resulting in an intricate image to be studied carefully, thus counteracting the more

common reaction of repulsion in viewing such grotesque images. Augur can be seen as a direct

link to the images found in book V of Vesalius’ publication which are camouflaged in the

techniques of classical sculpture as a way of sanitizing them so that they could disperse scientific

information in a way that does not upset the viewer.6


Jeannie Thib

Tabula, 1993

Linocut on kozo paper, ink

5 sheets, each: 122 x 91cm

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=64660&title=Tabula&artist=Jeannie+Thib&link_id=956


Tabula (1993) is made up of five linocut prints, each depicting the artist’s left palm in five

similar positions. These hands are fragments removed from any sort of context with the body

and as such, function as blank pages (like a tabula rasa) on which the artist is free to present

new information. Each palm has been inscribed with various patterns and words from garden

designs, maps, wilderness survival guides and body decorations. All of these elements draw on

systems relating to techniques of mapping, patterning or coding to associate the relationship

between humans and nature. The viewer does not know where these words or patterns come

from, or what they mean in reference to each other. In this sense, Tabula can be seen as the

epitome of a fragmentary view of the body; presenting un-contextualized information, leaving

the viewer to contemplate their meaning or transfer their own understanding and prior

knowledge onto them as a way of interpretation. This can be compared to what Vesalius aimed

to achieve in his publication. Through dissection and fragmentation, Vesalius' objective was to

strip the body down to the smallest detail to observe individual segments and thus better

understood the entire bodily system. Tabula does just that; by representing the left hand, the

artist is free to inscribe information about this part, in relation to the gestalt of humanity and

nature.7


Catherine Heard Untitled (after Vesalius, 1543), 1993

Human hair, cotton, wood frames, brass plaque

165.1 x 63.5 x 48.2 cm

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=22166&title=Untitled&artist=Catherine+Heard&link_id=1922


Andreas Vesalius




Untitled (After Vesalius, 1543) by Catherine Heard is the central panel from the triptych,

Untitled (After Vidius, 1611; After Bartisch, 1575; After Vesalius, 1543). Each panel depicts

male or female genitalia from three medical treatises. The panels are mounted on large stands, so

that the artwork mimics how a diagram or model is displayed in a scientific context such as a

laboratory or classroom. Each image has been stitched on cotton with human hair and stretched


within a wooden frame. When viewed from the side, one sees the excess hair that has been left to

hang in strands on the opposite side of the image as a result of the stitching. The central panel is

of particular interest in this context, as it replicates an image from Vesalius’ Fabrica; that of a

partially dissected penis from plate 57 in book II of the Fabrica.

Catherine Heard

Untitled, 1993

Human hair embroidered on silk panel

88.9 x 304.8 cm

http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/work_detail.html?languagePref=en&mkey=22163&title=Untitled&artist=Catherine+Heard&link_id=1922


Andreas Vesalius



Saunders, J. and O’Malley, C. The Illustrations from the Works of Andreas Vesalius...


Andreas Vesalius





This untitled piece by Catherine Heard depicts a pregnant woman’s stomach with an incision

that seems to have been labelled in the manner of a medical diagram. Below the stomach various

surgical tools have been represented, along with scrolls and what can be understood as textual

material on parchment paper. The images have been stitched using human hair onto a silk panel

that has been hung from the ceiling and displayed so that the stitching casts a shadow of the

image onto the wall behind it. A comparison can be made to the images found in book II of

Vesalius’ Fabrica, as he too represents a dissection of a female womb and goes so far as to

dissect the embryo, representing a step by step unveiling of the fetus. Vesalius also includes an

illustration of his surgical tools in Book II, tools of his trade necessary for his investigation. In

drawing on the types of images found within the Fabrica, Heard’s works contribute to the

ongoing dialogue about the form and function of the human body. However, by including human

hair in the equation, both in this piece and the previous one, Heard puts the “bodily” back into

these representations. The tradition of depersonalizing images in its anatomical sense as

practiced by Vesalius is being challenged here. Thus, this exhibition comes full circle. I began

by analyzing the need to sanitize these anatomical images with Vesalius. Then I considered the

work of Jeannie Thib where fragmentation is used to presenting the body as a blank canvas with

information inscribed to inspire the viewer to actively engage in the search for holistic meaning.

I end with the work of Heard, where the “bodily” is brought back into the art of anatomical

illustration.


NOTES

1 Renee Baert, “Signatures on Every Fragment,” Jeannie Thib: Body Works, Art Gallery of Mississauga, 1995. 2 Glenn Harcourt, “Andreas Vesalius and the Anatomy of Antique Sculpture,” Representations Special Issue: The Cultural Display of the Body 17 (Winter 1987): 28-61. 3 Cynthia Klestinec, Theatrical Dissections and Dancing Cadavers: Andreas Vesalius and Sixteenth Century Popular Culture, P.h.D Dissertation (Chiciago: University of Chicago, 2001). 4 Vesalius places these sculptural figures within pastoral landscapes. Scenes of rolling hills, distant villages, meadows and trees form a panorama behind all of the muscle-men figures. Cynthia Klestinec explains in her PhD dissertation, Theatrical Dissections and Dancing Cadavers, that throughout the muscle men illustrations, Vesalius has “employed the pastoral and its modal potential, creating a world of strained idealism and interrogating the incommensurability between idyllic existence and mortal decay,” Klestinec, 82. She goes on to explain that “Pastoralisms are habits of mind...Vesalius’ illustrations of muscle men seem to evoke not their mortal reality- they do not appear as actual, decaying corpses undergoing the mutilating process of dissection- but rather the ghostly shadows of the prototypical ancient shepherd combined with Vitruvian, classical proportions of the body, and his idyllic dance,” Klestinec, 84. Polykleitos is also known for developing the technique of Contrapposto, which is used to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs. This gives the figure a more dynamic or alternatively relaxed appearance. The technique of Contrapposto is best understood visually in the muscle men found in Book II of Vesalius’ Fabrica, where complete bodies can be seen in poses similar to those of classical sculptures. Polykleitos was a Greek sculptor in the 5th and the early 4th century BCE. He is known for having developed a sculptural mode of representation in which clearly defined parts are related to one another through a system of idealised mathematical proportions and ratios. 5 Jeannie Thib, “CCCA Artist Profile, Jeannie Thib,” Centre for Contemporary Canadian Art. Accessed December 21, 2012 http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/artist_info.html?languagePref=en&link_id=956&artist=Jeannie+Thib. 6 Thib. 7 Thib.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Albano, Caterina. “Visible Bodies.” Literature, Mapping, and the Politics of Space in Early Modern Britain. Ed. Andre Gordon and Bernhard Klein. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 2001. 89-106.

Baert, Renee. “Signatures on Every Fragment.” Jeannie Thib: Body Works. Art Gallery of

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Accessed December 21, 2012. http://ccca.concordia.ca/artists/ artist_info.html?languagePref=en&link_id=956&artist=Jeannie+Thib.

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