KNOWING

Sean Caulfield produced The Anatomy Table as part of the transdisciplinary project <ImmuneNations>, which focused on researching the diverse cultural ideas around the safety and efficacy of vaccines. This series of prints combines two layers of images. The first consists of illustrations by the renowned 16th-century anatomist Andreas Vesalius, whose work you can explore in the section on Seeing. The title of the work and presentation of the central figure lying flat and exposed further recall the careful dissections Vesalius is known for performing in anatomy theaters. The second layer comprises Caulfield’s own fantastical drawings inspired by scientific descriptions of viruses. By juxtaposing these two sources and uniting them visually, Caulfield invites us to consider the problematic divide between scientific/objective/empirical and cultural/emotional/artistic representations of the body.

The human body is a central focus of much of Ingrid Bachmann’s work. In Pelt, she raises questions about the relationship of our bodies to technology. Originally one of six animal-like kinetic sculptures, this work seeks to humanize technology through rhythmic inhalations and exhalations. Its organic, almost sentient movements encourage us to consider where our bodies end and where technology begins—a question not only relevant in the medical sciences, where implants, transplants, prostheses, and other procedures can permanently alter our bodies—but also in day-to-day life as we interact with technologies that can at once connect and alienate us from one another.

The pages of this book are laser cut with two images of a human heart, inspired by Andrew Carnie’s research as part of Hybrid Bodies, a transdisciplinary team investigating the social and psychological dimensions of heart transplantation in Canada. Carnie intends for the image to be legible as a human heart, but also allow for the viewer to question what might be missing, referencing the anonymity that accompanies organ transplants. The pages are stitched along the side to recall the ways that new organs are stitched into a recipient’s body.  

Chromotherapy, which involves directing colored light at afflicted areas of the human body to cure disease, has roots in ancient Egypt and China. The practice was introduced in the United States in the 19th century as an alternative to Western medicine’s often aggressive and invasive methods. After a surgical procedure, and influenced by his close attention to color in his photography practice, Nagatani was drawn to chromotherapy treatment and pursued extensive research to learn more. In this work, he engages the ongoing debates between the supposedly objective science of Western medicine and the pseudoscience surrounding alternative healing practices such as chromotherapy.

Elizabeth “Grandma” Layton was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and experienced profound depression for much of her life, leading to several psychiatric hospitalizations and rounds of electroconvulsive therapy. Yet it was not these interventions but rather drawing that provided Layton with lasting therapeutic benefits. Nevertheless, her struggles with mental health often appear in her drawings. In Fear, Layton portrays herself wide-eyed and cowering in a closet. Next to her, a door is padlocked from the inside, keys hanging nearby, suggesting that the literal key to her escape from the fear is within reach, but that she is unable to grasp it. An empty prescription bottle indicates that Layton manages her condition through medication, but that it may not be effective or has worsened because she ran out of pills. 

Indigenous communities from the Midwest recorded plant-based recipes on “prescription sticks” like this one. Read from left to right, these recipes could be used to concoct herbal remedies for illness and injury. This particular stick was carved following the federally forced relocation of the Potawatomi from their ancestral homelands in the Great Lakes to what is now Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Unfortunately, changing plant morphology and a sharp decline in native language speakers due to colonization and assimilation make it impossible to identify the plant species or recipes recorded here. This object serves as an example of the importance of the plant world to the Potawatomi—but also as a reminder of the vast loss of Indigenous healing knowledge. 

The historical and intergenerational trauma perpetuated by centuries of removal and assimilation has had lasting effects on health and well-being. For instance, Native Americans suffer severe psychological distress at rates 1.5 times greater than the general population and experience post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) more than twice as often. Reconnecting to cultural traditions can ease such historical and intergenerational trauma by giving individuals a stronger sense of self, purpose, and community.