An unprecedented revolution of art and medicine integration is rising stealthily
Atlas of Queer Anatomy, the collective proposal worked by the Professor Kuang-Yi Ku of the Institute of Applied Arts of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU) and Professor Dr. Henry de Vries, has been awarded the professional winner of the Core77 Speculative Design Award in America and the Dutch Design Awards in Design Research program. This is one of a few examples of a Taiwanese designer being shortlisted for the award that has aroused attention and discussion around the globe.
Intertwining penises, tongues, mouths, and anuses between which spiny viruses and swarming microbes move, drawn in bright black lines on clean white paper and animated in vibrant colors, but also executed in 3D as almost abstract sculptures. They are in one space with a long series of nearly X-ray-like prints showing a spectrum of ever slightly different developed intersex genitalia. Through a series of works, Prof. Kuang-Yi Ku wishes the public to introspect how the nowadays widely used classical anatomy textbook, Atlas of Human Anatomy, which is an anatomy textbook first published by the medical illustrator and surgeon Frank H. Netter (1906-1991) in 1957, influences medicine.
Medical anatomy á la Netter defines a clear body boundary by specifically depicting an image of a clean, healthy, and complete body; however, this definition resulted in marginalized groups being underestimated in medicine, contributing to significant challenges of cultural discrimination and problems in clinical treatment, public health, etc. In addition, classical anatomy often neglects the symbiotic dependence between non-human beings and human beings. “After all, where does our body end and the flora of bacteria living in, on and with our bodies begin? It’s not a binary boundary. It is a spectrum.” said Prof. De Vries. Therefore, to be noticed, for the presentation of Atlas of Queer Anatomy, Prof. Kuang-Yi Ku and Prof. Dr. Henry de Vries encourage young medics and creatives as well as wider audiences to jointly participate in different aspects of Atlas of Queer Anatomy through participatory performances and workshops, called “Queer Anatomy Lessons.” This comprehensive fictional anatomy textbook aims to increase the inclusivity and diversity of anatomical interpretation in and outside the medical system.
The subverted art of Atlas of Queer Anatomy not only assists in aesthetic value but also breaks through the traditional anatomy boundary. This work infuses new energy into the development of anatomy via its peculiar viewpoint, challenges the leadership of medicine patriarchy, heterosexuality regulations, and the Western anatomy education for the whites, and builds up a vague, undetermined, fluctuated anatomy system for the public and healthcare providers to re-examine the body boundary, gender, and diversity, becoming a spotlight of medicine and art integration.
Project Description: https://designawards.core77.com/speculative-design/118856/Atlas-of-Queer-Anatomy
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