Inside out. New images and imaginations of the body

The theme of the project is how new imaging technologies contribute to redefining the body by making its inside visible on the level of cells. On a more general level, it questions how cultural values impact on science and technology and vice versa. Medical imaging technologies are producing pictures of tiny body fragments that are modified into astonishing and aesthetically appealing images that are used in research, in medical practice, but also in the media and in commercials, thus the production of these images takes place in an interface of science and popular culture. The project has studied in which ways cultural values contribute in the processes of producing, interpreting and using the images and on how they draw new images of the human body conducive to changing imaginations of bodily functions and human reproduction. The research design includes studying the production process in the laboratory, the use of them in medical practice, how they travel from science communities to media and the public, and how they are used in museum exhibitions and art. We have studied the production and interpretation of images in interactions between scientists, practitioners, lay people and (bio)artists and been looking for which cultural values are referred to and activated in these processes. We have asked if new image technology may lead to new interpretations of human bodies, of gender difference related to reproduction, and what role has the increasing importance of visualisation to the general understanding of biology and the body. Our ambition has been to study how tiny body parts mirror cultural values of the human body, life and reproduction, gender and human value in general. To look for this, we have studied models and metaphors that are used to explain the contents of an image and how cultural values are mediated through such models and metaphors.

The theme of the project is how new imaging technologies contribute to redefining the body by making its inside visible on the level of cells. By applying new image technologies, pictures taken of tiny body fragments are modified into astonishing and aest hetically appealing images that are used in research, in medical practice, but also in the media and in commercials. The production of these images takes place in an interface of science and popular culture. We will study how cultural values contribute in the processes of producing, interpreting and using the images and on how they draw new images of the human body that may contribute to changing imaginations of the body. On a more general level, the project questions how cultural values impact on science and technology and vice versa. The study will focus on how new technologies are applied in the production of biomedical images and how new knowledge of the interior of the body is produced. It will follow the process when research results are transferred out of the lab to medical practice, media and art. Thus we will study the production and interpretation of images in interactions between scientists, practitioners, lay people and (bio)artists and ask which cultural values are referred to and activated i n these processes. We will ask if new image technology may lead to new interpretations of the human body, of gender difference and reproduction, and to increasing the importance of visualisation in the general understanding of biology and the body.