Anatomy and Art

So I started to write a bit about the conference a few days back, while I was still in Baltimore.  Now that I’m home, I wanted to say a little more about the experience.  First of all, the event was held in a beautiful hotel, the Grand Tremont in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.  This is a quick shot I snapped with my laptop during one of the lectures.

And we saw most of the big lectures from that room.  That is where Linda Wilson-Pauwels gave her presidential address, encouraging participation and volunteerism within the AMI.  And directly after followed Juan Velasco from National Geographic.  I knew that National Geographic had a well deserved reputation for it’s imagery, but I really had no idea the level of work they were putting into keeping up that reputation.  Their process was fascinating to hear about.  In particular, I was surprised to learn that so many of their images start with the creation of a physical 3D form.  I just don’t know of anyone else doing that as part of their process toward their 2D images.

We also got a talk from animator Drew Berry that day.  His work is really some of the best out there  in the world of biomedical animation.  I’m just going to put up this piece of his work on malaria that’s up on YouTube here, in case you’re interested…

He’s also done some fantastic work with DNA, which looks like it is getting more widespread recognition and will be making it’s way into an experimental music video. One can’t help but wonder what getting these sorts of images into public consciousness does for mass understanding of how our bodies work. It seems like at least on some small level, even if unstudied, it would lend to some innate level of understanding.

We then broke into the business lunch, and further workshops for the day. The business lunch focused a lot on re-branding of the AMI as an organization. As a student member, I’m only allowed to listen in, and not vote on any of that, but it will be interesting to see where these efforts take us.

Over the course of the conference, I couldn’t help but be inspired by the talks that people were giving and think about things I might like to try when I got home. I definitely intend to do a little work with Zbrush and Mudbox while I still have student access to the Lynda.com tutorials. And I absolutely need to download the Molecular Maya plug in and start working with that. The creator, Gaël McGill was one of the speakers at the conference as well, and I very much enjoyed meeting him. I also found myself wondering if I wouldn’t perhaps be in a good position to give a talk about working with physical 3D forms and digital 3D forms and how knowledge in each area can benefit the other. And I found myself inspired to create a web forum for anaplastology patients and anaplastologists to share information and anecdotes with each other while listening to a talk about community building and branding by Katherine Jones of Milkshake Media which was behind the Livestrong campaign for the Lance Armstrong foundation. And it is most definitely time to re-cut my 3D Graphics and Animation Demo Reel to include both the blood vessel fly through animation and my now award winning animation on the BSSO and Osseous Genioplasty. I also need to add that award to my resume and well, I checked with my adviser and there isn’t anything I need to wait for before listing myself as a graduate of UIC’s program rather than a student seeking said degree, so that’s a fairly big change in the resume to make.

Yup, so plenty to do, and for starters, I finally got around to polishing up a still frame from my blood vessel animation to show as just an illustration. Here that is…

It’s been a great trip, and now it’s good to be home.

I really do have a special place in my heart for the XKCD webcomic.

And this one should be shared…

http://xkcd.com/896/

This video starts with a spoken word poem, and continues on to say some really nice things about communication and really art in general. It’s one of those remarkably healthy takes on art, creation, and the connections we make as artists. And I thought it was worth posting here. Don’t expect a medical talk, this one is pure art and inspiration.

Last night I had the rare privilege of seeing a few of artist Dave McKean’s works up close and first hand followed by live performances and a screening of the 1929 silent film classic, Faust.  I had first discovered Dave McKean in my highschool years through his collaborations with Neil Gaiman.  Then he wrote Cages, and there was just something about it.  I couldn’t synopsize that story for you now if I tried, but even not having looked at it in over a decade, there are pieces of it that continue to stick with me. When I shook his hand last night, I asked him if he would speak a bit about his process.  As it turned out, his time at the microphone was short, but what he did speak of was inspiration.  He spoke of being inspired by these old early films.  And in some ways, I think that was a better answer.  Process always begins with inspiration. You can see here, the original film image of the devil taking the village, and then McKean’s take on it.

Now I had gone to this event last night looking to be inspired in mixed-media work.  I went with a head swimming with thoughts about what one medium can bring to another and how I could use different kinds of skills together in my own work.  But what I found instead, was inspiration in how powerful appreciation alone can be.  And maybe this whole idea of mixing mediums to create something new really begins with looking at more kinds of art. The works I saw last night were not anatomical or scientific in nature.  They were, on the contrary, works of expression.  But perhaps there are lessons to be learned here that can be utilized in other kinds of art. So I guess the thought I leave you all with, is to remember your inspirations, whatever they may be.