“Abject art is used to describe artworks which explore themes that transgress and threaten our sense of cleanliness and propriety particularly referencing the body and bodily functions”
‘The term abjection literally means ‘the state of being cast off.’ - Tate
Last week, I went into the Brighton Medical School anatomy lab and spent a few hours studying some gastrointestinal specimens. For someone that has spent a lot of time in hospital, having an assortment of invasive procedures, I have a surprisingly weak stomach. (Fortunately for my practice, my curiosity outweighs my fears.)
When in the medical lab, a friendly technician wheeled in a trolley containing 3 preserved specimens- two sections of a small intestine, once with diverticula and one cut through the middle to expose the inner surface, and one large intestine, complete with advanced Ulcerative Colitis.
Due to privacy laws, photography isn’t permitted (which is a shame, I think, as I think more people should see what their important organs look like), so artists are invited to draw donated specimens.
It’s been a while since I did any anatomical drawing, so my results aren’t up to much, but I always forget how drawing is still such a brilliant memory tool.
It was equal parts fascinating and horrifying to see exactly how my large intestine looks when my colitis is active- its quite haunting actually (especially as it’s been playing up these past couple of weeks again).
Probably keep scrolling if you don’t fancy seeing my rendering of a UC-inflicted colon…(though I assume if you’re a subscriber, you’re already aware of the nature of this blog!)
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Over the past week or so I’ve been getting back to using Blender, specifically experimenting with merging some of my 3D scans with models I’ve made in the program from scratch. Based on my drawings and observations, I’ve edited the colour of my models a little too. I don’t want them to be anatomically correct, but it’s good to have more visual reference points.
I use the Trnio scanner app for scans, which I think is only a few quid to buy and is the only one that works on older iphones (a lot of scanning tech apps only work on iPhone 11’s and above FYI). I created a 3D scan for my project ‘MƎTA’ in 2020, if you’re interested in how a 3D scan looks as a print, once tidied up a bit in a programme like Blender.
It’s a bit odd seeing my 2020 face wrapped up in 3d gut renderings but fun to experiment with.
Learning a new programme or skill is often such a bumpy ride- you can agonise for days and weeks over something tiny and get yourself stuck. Then someone helps you out or you watch the right video…something just clicks and things kind of leap forward.
So here’s a few screen grabs from a short moving piece I made this week (which you can see here if you can’t see it below for any reason).
I’ve started livestreaming my learning process again over on Twitch, (as well as Fallout 4, gamerz!) Do follow me to get notified of my next stream, if watching someone swearing at 3d modelling software is your bag. The above model was created in just over an hour (and features a crash midway through) if you want to see how I did it.
You might notice this footage has some sounds, which are the first useable results I’ve managed to get from a stethoscope so far. It’s an incredibly sensitive microphone, so I’m spending late nights under two duvets trying to pick up various gut & heart sounds. Still work to do on those, but I thought I’d share these results anyway.
Finally, if you’ve filled out my research survey, big thanks to you- I’ve had some really fascinating and creative feedback about how people experience invisible illness. If you’d like to contribute but haven’t yet, there’s still time.
Thanks for reading!
Resources
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/abject-art
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1512791265
https://universityofsussex.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_1B2yNuieLQeqrL8