Anatomical Theatre: The Body, Disease, and Death in Medical Museums of the Western World

From the Anatomical Theatre website:
"Anatomical Theatre is a photographic exhibition documenting artifacts collected by and exhibited in medical museums throughout Europe and the United States. The objects in these photos range from preserved human remains to models made from ivory, wax, and papier mâché. The artifacts span from the 16th Century to the 20th, and include examples from a wide range of countries, artists, and preparators. The photographs in this exhibition were taken by Joanna Ebenstein, a New York-based photographer and designer, on the course of a one-month pilgrimage to the famed medical museums of the Western World. On the course of the trip, she visited museums in England, Scotland, Hungary, Italy, Austria, The Netherlands, and the United States at each, she interviewed curators or keepers, and photographed both behind-the-scenes and in the museum exhibit areas."

http://www.astropop.com/anatomical/

Artist gets an ear implanted on his arm

From the Guardian:

A man with three ears will appear at Edinburgh Napier University today to talk about his "extra" ear, which has been surgically implanted on to his forearm.

Australian performance artist Stelios Arcadiou, known as Stelarc, had the third ear created from cells in a lab in 2006. At the Edinburgh Science International Festival today, Stelarc will discuss his plans to install transmitters in his new ear, so people listen to what it is hearing online. He also hopes to grow a soft earlobe using his own stem cells.

The ear is made of human cartilage. Stelarc, who is visiting professor at Brunel University School of Arts, took 10 years to find a surgeon willing to perform the operation. He uses medical instruments, prosthetics, robotics, virtual reality and the internet in his work.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/apr/14/performance-artist-ear-impant

Anatomia Collection 1522-1867

The University of Toronto has an extensive collection of anatomy illustrations from 1522-1867. The above images were found browsing 'abnormalities'.

From the website:
Anatomia is a collection of illustrations of human anatomy which are contained within published books, but the texts themselves are not included. The anatomical illustrations chosen for inclusion are, for the most part, full page plates but significant illustrations within the text are also included, as well as the title pages to the books themselves. The site is structured on two interconnected levels - the book level and the plate level.
http://link.library.utoronto.ca/anatomia/application/index.cfm

Radiology Art

From the artist's website:

In the summer of 2007, artist and medical student Satre Stuelke started the Radiology Art project. Dedicated to the deeper visualization of various objects that hold unique cultural importance in modern society, this project intends to plant a seed of scientific creativity in the minds of all those inclined to participate. Stuelke acquires the images on an older four-slice CT scanner that is used for research.

http://www.radiologyart.com/

The Photomaton

More Antique Anatomical Models

Wax model of a human face, Germany, 1801-1900

Female ivory anatomical figure, Europe, 1601-1800

Reclining wax woman, Florence, Italy, 1771-1800

Wax anatomical models of this period had different uses for different audiences. In the European anatomical tradition, the standard or normative body was always male. Female bodies were studied in terms of how they differed. In practice this meant a focus on their reproductive capacities – most often they were pregnant, with a fetus as one of the removable pieces.

Text and images taken from the Science Museum:

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife.aspx