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Thursday, September 2, 2010

Arts On the Beauty of Surgical Tools

Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 9:08 AM

From Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments:

A trophy of the same kind, composed of the instruments of surgery, of dissecting and amputation-knives, of saws for cutting the bones, of trepanning instruments, etc. would be absurd and shocking. Instruments of surgery, however, are always more finely polished, and generally more nicely adapted to the purposes for which they are intended... The remote effects of them too, the health of the patient, is agreeable; yet as the immediate effect of them is pain and suffering, the sight of them always displeases us. Instruments of war are agreeable, though their immediate effect may seem to be in the same manner pain and suffering. But then it is the pain and suffering of our enemies, with whom we have no sympathy.

Instruments of war are agreeable and instruments surgery are disagreeable. This kind of thinking is, as Smith points out, backward, and it is the job of the critic to point out these kinds of inconsistencies or contradictions in an our culture/thinking/art. Why? Because they expose the ideological distortion in our culture/thinking/art. Ideology is not about reality but interests related to social forms of power. The reality in the case of arms and surgery tools is the opposite of the ideology: we should find beauty (and hang on our walls) instruments that assist life, prevent death, fix what is broken in us.

McMorgan

Comments (6) RSS

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It is odd how when seeing antique surgeon's instruments, I wince at the thought of having those instruments used on them, while not feeling the same sense of imagined pain at being blasted by an antique rifle, or slashed with an antique sword.

Perhaps because I can more easily imagine myself being operated on than being shot or stabbed.

Posted by Marooner on September 2, 2010 at 9:14 AM

Oh man, did you ever see Dead Ringers? Terrifying.

Posted by Fistique on September 2, 2010 at 9:14 AM

@2 word. Maybe it's the immediacy. Living in a rich and mostly peaceful country, you don't think that rifle will be used on you. But when you see the scalpel, you know it's "batter up".

Posted by Westside forever on September 2, 2010 at 9:53 AM