Hammer Museum: This is the End (Even Pricks)

The Hammer Museum plays host to Ed Atkins' "Even Pricks" exhibit, consisting of an eight-minute loop of the same video. It centers around a promiscuous thumb that is thrusted into many different orifices, including the ear, the eye, the belly button, and the nose. In each of the scenes the thumb in slow motion is somewhat manipulated before penetrating the body either being inflated or dipped in paint. This is similar to how medtech can change the way we manipulate body parts. Was the hand in the video even a real hand? Or was it a prosthetic? Or was it just CGI? Whatever the case, it is proof that artists are using the human body as a canvas to translate their message to the audience.

The entire video is narrated by a chimpanzee who addresses the audience directly. This exhibit really speaks to the neuroscience behind communication and language, and how humans and primates differ. Physically we both share opposable thumbs, a highlight in the video. A major difference is that humans have a much more developed left hemisphere, which is largely responsible for our adeptness for communication. The artists used CGI technology to mimic human speech in monkeys, another example of how technology goes hand and hand with art.

This was a great exhibit to end on, as this exhibit's title symbolizes more than what the artists were trying to get across. The posting of this blog marks the end of my college career here at UCLA.

Fowler Museum: Gagawaka + Postmortem by Vivan Sundaram

What do doctors do with their gloves and masks when they finish surgery? What do nurses do when the patient does not take the pill? Where does all of this equipment go? The normal response is the garbage. However, Vivan Sundaram has transformed many of these now-useless materials into wearable pieces of art. From surgical gloves to medical braces, Sundaram has created beautiful works of art/fashion while making a statement about the waste that comes from the medical field.


A social activist, one of Sundaram's goals is to address the increase in urban waste, particularly garbage that comes from medical facilities. Some of the materials used for his pieces are found at use on the ground. As such, he made his models literally wear the trash beneath their feet while still making a fashion statement.

A dress made from surgical caps

A dress made from x-ray film

My favorite example of his work was inspired by his wife, whom was recently hospitalized. He made a dress using the films from all of the x-rays taken of her to make a sleek and elegant dress. I see his work, and it is both fascinating and disturbing. As I hope to enter the medical field, his work brings up the question: what should we with our stuff after seeing every patient?