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Organs-without-body: a study on the genealogy of vision leading to the posthuman age

The Arts

Organs-without-body: a study on the genealogy of vision leading to the posthuman age

F. Hong

Discover how Feng Hong examines the intersection of medical portraits and posthuman thought in 19th-century China. This fascinating study reveals the influence of visual thinking on medical and artistic realms, drawing connections between anatomy and avant-garde innovation in fashion and dance.

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Playback language: English
Abstract
This paper uses Foucault's archaeology of knowledge to examine the visual thinking behind medical portraits painted by Lam Qua in 19th-century China, tracing their origins to clinicians' case records and their resemblance to ethnographic displays. The study reveals how partial information, detached from the whole entity, gains emphasis in dissemination. This concept's influence is explored through its impact on Rei Kawakubo's fashion designs and Merce Cunningham's dance art, both of which abstract information from the body, visually representing posthuman thinking. The concept of "organs-without-body" is introduced as a metaphor for non-physical information shaping posthuman thought.
Publisher
HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES COMMUNICATIONS
Published On
Sep 27, 2024
Authors
Feng Hong
Tags
Foucault
medical portraits
visual thinking
posthuman
ethnographic displays
fashion design
dance art
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