Konstruktion - Erweiterung - Rekonstruktion

Cutting, cutting out, joining pieces together; to connect different materials with one another, to design, build and construct bodies. These processes are part of the work of both the artist as well as the plastic surgeon and prosthetist. The idea, that a body-forming aspect constitutes the artistic as well as the medical disciplines is the basis of the present research. Against the background of this common ground this dissertation examines how, with which aims and with which outcome the practices of plastic surgery and prosthetics are transferred into the working process of artists. The history of the design of the human body in the medical realm changes radically by the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. At this point, plastic surgery has become a scientifically recognized practice. Therefore, the dissertation focusses on works of art of the 20th century and exemplifies, how these medical methods are transferred into the artistic process of creation. The analyses of three works of Otto Dix, George Grosz and Raoul Hausmann is conducted against the historical background of World War I and the debates about the reconstructed human body. The dissertation discusses how both the horror and the fascination about the body-forming methods are part of the reflection. The works of Stelarc and Matthew Barney are analyzed in the context of the idea of enhancement, as it is pursued after World War II. The enhanced human body is supposed to adapt automatically to changes of the environment and to function better than it used to in its’ primary state. Finally, ORLANs nine operation performances show how the idea of constructing the human appearance of aesthetic plastic surgery is transferred into art. By the end of the 20th century aesthetic surgery is a common tool of self-improvement which oscillates between medicine and lifestyle. These aspects of reconstruction, enhancement and construction are not completely isolated from one another in the daily experience. Nevertheless, this division gives the opportunity to tackle the subject systematically and to grasp different characteristics of the attempts to improve the human body which have been taken place in Europe since World War I. All analyses show, that every examined artist transfers the idea of the designable human into his work and initiates debates about it. In the case of the Dadaists, for instance, this leads to the emphasis of the direct work on the body of art - the painting - not only with color, but with materials from everyday life and cut-out picture-pieces. Stelarc and especially ORLAN go further and change their very own bodies surgically. ORLAN is not only artist, but also art-work. The living human is transformed into a sculpted material. The immediacy of all works raises the question of how far art and science can go to realize their desire to create and construct. Furthermore, the dissertation points out the mutual influences between both disciplines: The developments of prosthetics and plastic surgery offer artists new methods and materials. They discuss the designable human in their artistic context - in which they usually do not focus on the objective of healing or functionality but are able to manifest the extreme. However, in those cases in which the human body is transformed, artists do have to work with scientists and surgeons. They have to negotiate possibilities and risks of the procedures they wish to have performed on themselves and in some cases need to compromise their initial ideas. On the side of the medical disciplines, on the other hand, the awareness grows, that surgical and prosthetic work has a forming and designing aspect. If this aspect is interpreted as a creative act, it is the basis for scientists and surgeons to change the outlook on their work and their willingness to provide their expertise for the artistic creation.

Author dc:creator

• Töppe, Li

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Bushart, Magdalena

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

de

Identifier URI

http://dx.doi.org/10.14279/depositonce-5643

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:depositonce.tu-berlin.de:11303/6062