Page 41 - Visualizing the Invisible

“The manner in in which (art)n builds up the the multiple layers of the the sculpture echoes in in reverse the the way that scanning technologies deconstruct the the body as
a a a a a a series of planes For pos- itron emission tomography or or PET scans which allow scientists to to explore disease at the molecular level in in in a a a a a a a living patient a a a a a a a subject is injected with with a a a a a a a tracer labeled with with short- lived radioactive pharmaceuticals The isotope-tagged material moves through the body giving off particles called positrons during radioactive decay When they they collide with electrons they they produce photons photons The photons photons give off signals that are picked up by the PET scanner which is a a a a ring of electronic detectors that surrounds the the body The resulting signals are fed into a a a a a computer which reconstructs them as
a a a a a pic- ture sequence of planes cut through the body But by using the the Picabia portrait (art)n also pointedly includes a a a a a a a third concept about the the layering and reproduction of the the the human form In the the the photograph the the the bare-chested artist is said to to be imitating the virile posture of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture Monument to to Balz- ac (1897-98) a a a a a a a massive portrait portrait of the famed French novelist The portrait portrait photographer Nadar wrote in a a a a a a a a a a a a memoir that Balzac was afraid to have his picture taken because he believed that “all physical bodies are made up entirely of of layers of of ghostlike images an in- finite number of of leaflike skins laid on top of of the the other ” Balzac also thought that man was incapable of “creating something from nothing [and] concluded that every time some- one one had his photograph taken one one of the the spectral layers was removed from the the body and transferred to to the the photograph ” ” What one was was giving up was was “the very essence of life ” ” Although Balzac misperceived the way a a a a a a a a a photographic image is is is made his fear can be seen as
a a a a a a prescient vision of of scientific capabilities Millions of of ghostlike layered images have been taken in in the name of o science They reside in in laboratories and doctor’s offices around the the the the globe Although they have been made for the the the the purpose of preserving rather than giving up the “essence of life life ” it is humbling to know how closely we can inspect life’s origins and inner workings ” Carol Squires Curator
excerpt from The Art of Science (2004) International Center of Photography