Skin at The Wellcome Collection

Since I was in the area, I decided to visit the 'Skin' exhibition at The Wellcome Collection on it's closing day. I'd visited The Wellcome Collection before as part of a science lecture with The Times and Eureka their science supplement magazine, so I was interested to see what depths they went to with the investigation of skin. 

It turns out the curators are very clever people! What I loved about the exhibition was how it combined the technical and medical with the creative, I was able to look at the models and artifacts and appreciate them both on a science discovery level and as an artist. The draughtsmanship of the artists that documented the findings scientists made is just extraordinary.

Another plus point was the way contemporary works of art were slotted in with the artifacts; photography, installations and film all played a part in the exploration of the body's largest and most visible organ. There were a few contemporary works that really caught my eye;

A piece by Brian Dettmer caught my eye, this artist takes thick books of various genres, such as science text, history volumes and story books, and using surgical tools, such as scalpels and tweezers, delicately dissects the pages to reveal the inner workings and allow for closer investigation.

View Brian Dettmer's 'Gray's Anatomy' here on his Flickr

Tamsin Van Essen created a series of ceramics which held faults or defects on their surface, their shapes were based on 17th and 18th century apothecary jars. Their appearance poses the idea that these jars hold a disease rather than a cure for it, and leads the public to question their belief as to what is 'beauty' or 'perfection'.

'Medical Heirloom' 2008-2010

Zane Berzina uses mixed media and presents them as slides under microscopes, these 'slides' of processed materials are seen to be interpretations of the epidermis. Each slide is different in colour, texture and pattern and at first sight it isn't clear what is being viewed. I found them to be incredibly interesting and the ambiguity of the surfaces intrigued me.

'Membrane |||' 2006-2008