When I first began this project, I was unsure of where it would take me. I was initially inspired by the history and inspiration behind Frankenstein and chose to look at the Electrotherapy Unit from Leamington Spa Museum to accommodate this interest.Â
I began by weaving electrical wires together to make a corset shape, but felt that this did not effectively show the concept of electricity passing through the body. I wanted my work to cause more of an impact, to scare or shock people in a way that Frankenstein would have scared its readers for fear of the unknown. I then used real organs alongside electrical wires and preserved them in resin, but found that these did not last long before they decayed and broke out of their glass restraints. I recorded them in my photography and pencil drawings, which I wanted to reflect a gothic aesthetic reminiscent of the laboratory in which Dr Frankenstein inhabited.
I then began to create faux organs using latex, felt and fake blood. Although clearly handmade, I felt that these had a much more gruesome appearance compared to the vintage looking photographs of very dead specimens. The fleshy textures in contrast with the cold metal and glass containers gave the whole collection of organs a sense of vivacity. I used electrical wires to join the organs together, and this was a constant theme running throughout my project. The ‘spark’ that differentiated the living from the dead is something I wanted to convey, and I feel I did effectively.
If I were to carry on this project, I would have liked to look into robotics and artificial intelligence. I feel that this would have given my work a completely different ideology: to combine the mind of a computer with a body of flesh and blood would be far more interesting than the completely fake network I created. I could have added movement, such as a heartbeat, to really bring my work to life. Â
I began my research by looking into electrotherapeutics through history, and the impact of this scientific advancement on society. I looked into different applications of electricity in medical science, such as defibrillation, treatments for mental illness and other various ailments, and cosmetic uses. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein reflected the views of her contemporaries in 1818 when it was first published; people were cautious of the new scientific advances made by the likes of Luigi Galvani. But the novel also sparked various other questions about our very existence. What does it mean to be alive? What makes us human?
After reading the famous novel and watching the classic 1931 film adaptation, I concluded that Frankenstein’s monster is neither human nor unhuman; he has a body formed of human components and shows the qualities that we all possess in his instincts and personality. But the way in which he entered the world was supernatural, much like Adam and Eve in Paradise Lost. In the eyes of Shelley’s contemporaries, the act of creating life was solely something that God can, and should, do. But if the creature had been accepted into society, and treated as a human, would the story have had a different ending? And would that change the view of the novel’s critics?
I furthered my research to synthetic ‘life’ such as GMO plants and animals, and the use of real organs in research, artworks and exhibitions, such as Body Worlds. I began to think about the ethics of using real human (and animal) specimens in this way, and changing nature to suit our own agenda (GMO crops for example, which we are uncertain about their effects on our health). In some ways, this related to reviews of Frankenstein, which was considered impious at its time of publication; new technologies were as feared then as they are now.
The thing that ties all of my research together is a poem I read at the very start of my project, I Sing The Body Electric by Walt Whitman. It questions the value of our own bodies and argues against slavery. At the beginning, I was interested in the poem because it referred to a ‘spark’ between people, which I took to be an electrical spark, perhaps referencing electrical impulses in our nervous system. But now at the end of my project, I have found a different perspective of the poem: that all life (and every part of life, including death) should be valued, and no synthetic network of organs can compare to the natural phenomena that we experience everyday simply by existing as we are.
After reading the novel and watching the 1931 film, I found that there were many differences in the plot and characters.
They both follow the same basic structure: A scientist is obsessed with bringing the dead back to life. Yet in the novel, more is left to the reader’s imagination as to how he managed such an achievement. The film on the other hand shows his experiment clearly, with a small audience watching the monster take it’s first breath. Confusingly, for someone that read the novel first and then watched the film, the names of Victor and his brother Henry have been switched. This may cause confusion with viewers, and seems like an unnecessary change.Â
The ambiance of Frankenstein’s laboratory created by Shelley is reflected well in the film, as shown in the film seems to magnify the feats of Dr. Frankenstein, claiming that he first experimented on animals, corpses stolen from graves, and a separate human heart. The novel goes into little detail about the processes he undertook before the monster was created.
The novel then focuses on the development of the monster as a being, whereas the film doesn’t show his side of the story and focuses on Victor playing the role of a God and creating life. I feel that in this way, the film has lost a vital part of the story, because Frankenstein has created more than just a life, but a whole persona.Â
For my project I began by looking at electrotherapy and the use of electricity in the human body. I then moved onto Frankenstein, and the creation of life.
I am creating a collection of faux organs, some of which will be in jars, trays, and test tubes. The organs will be made of felt and latex, with electrical wires connecting them together to make a network. I will arrange the containers so that each organ is positioned in the correct place in the body.
I would like to display my work in the medical section of the museum, arranged on the Vichy douche slab if possible. If not, I could create a chalk outline (similar to one you would find at a crime scene) on paper to put on the floor.
Roger Hiorns is a contemporary artist that lives in London, and I came across his work at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham. I was interested in this artist because of the materials he uses: melted plastic and latex in a flesh colour, and real brain matter.Â
The brain matter has been used with copper sulfate to create a shimmering blue piece as well as elsewhere in the gallery. The article I read states ‘We are not informed from whose brain this matter has been extracted’. Which is an interesting fact and may spark debate on whether it has been ethically sourced.
The article also mentions that ‘the harsh fact that the only thing certain about this life is that, no matter what our status or achievements, our frail human matter will ultimately change, decay and end up as dust’. Death and rebirth is something I wanted to convey in my own work.
Article: Unnerving, disturbing and compelling: Roger Hiorns at Ikon Gallery
I began looking into modern advances in science that relate to the ideas in Shelley’s novel. The reality is that life cannot be created from real human organs in the way that Victor Frankenstein had hoped. However, in different ways, life can be ‘created’. For example, resuscitation and defibrillation, organ transplants and genetic mutations in plants and animals.
Shelley’s famous novel was inspired by various events in her life, including the suicide and resuscitation of her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft. She claimed that the Humane Society that saved her life caused her more suffering, as she did not want to be saved. The knowledge of resuscitation was only recently available to the the public at the time, and may have seemed like raising the dead had become possible.
The first human-to-human heart transplant took place in 1967. The doctor was declared the ‘new Frankenstein’, and the operation’s success changed the way people viewed life and death. Article:  Haunting Transplants: The Frankenstein Factor
In another article I read, entitled ‘A Lament Over Frankenstein, Nature De-Natured: A Deep Ecology with sacred Seed’ by Jea Sophia Oh.
Oh compares they story of Frankenstein to the GMOs created in modern biotechnology. The plants and animals created using gene-splitting techniques are referred to as ‘Frankenfoods’  because they merge different species together unnaturally. The balance of all things in nature is referred to as yin-yang in Korean Culture, and yin and yang supposedly mirror each other. Oh claims that the same can be said about Dr Frankenstein and his monster, the monster being a reflection of human society that shows what damage we do to our environment (such as GMOs). Frankenstein’s monster attacks his creator by killing his family in Shelley’s novel. GMO seeds are sometimes referred to as ‘suicide seeds’ because they cannot reproduce naturally. There are still questions and concerns as to whether artificially created products could be damaging for our health.
I found the first image in a medical source book of illustrations. It shows part of the nervous system, which controls the network between all of the organs shown on the diagram. This is an interesting way of showing the human body, as it has been deconstructed to show the nervous system clearly.Â
I also looked into crime scene chalk outlines, as I thought that this might also be a good way to present my work. A chalk outline is used around dead bodies to provide context for photographs, but they are rarely used to avoid contaminating the crime scene.Â
I decided to use the deconstructed composition because the concept I wanted to convey most was the connection between different organs to create life, rather than the deconstruction of a dead body. I felt that the chalk outline would give the connotation of death, whereas I wanted to show the network as being very much alive.
Body Worlds is a travelling exhibition of preserved specimens of humans and other animals, intended to teach the public about human anatomy and how our bodies work. The bodies are sourced through donations, and are preserved in the long process of plastination, which can take up to a year to complete:
I was interested in the exhibition and other people’s views on whether real human specimens should be displayed in this way. After reading a Ethics Report if found that generally, the educational value of the exhibition outweighs the ethical issues, such as the consent of donors and appropriateness of showing the dead in such a way.
The Ethics Advisory Committee confirmed the findings of the original ethics review - that the exhibit has considerable educational value and is appropriate for the Science Center.Â
What makes the exhibit compelling (real bodies in everyday poses) is also what makes it controversial. Without those very features, the exhibit would not be such a powerful educational experience.
The plastinates are displayed in the context of science, health and medical education, and create an atmosphere of respect.Â
One review I read stated ‘I was frankly offended by the "development of the body" section, which showed the development of the fetus. I am rather on the liberal side of the spectrum when it comes to women's health, but it was disturbing to see fetuses in jars for every week of development, canned like pickled vegetables, when they could have been someone's baby.’Â
The question of whether it is right to treat the corpses of human beings as objects for display is controversial.Â
To fill my organ jars, I wanted to make some clear slime with an orange tinge (like formaldehyde). I used a mix of clear PVA glue and borax solution to make the slime, but this was unsuccessful. For my second attempt, I used white PVA and this worked much better, but was not transparent. I added fake blood to the slime to colour it red. The final product looked like minced meat, with small white blobs of slime giving it more texture. I put this in a jar, and added more blood on top. I didn’t end up using this for the other organs as intended, but as a separate article.Â
After I created the brain and eyeball using latex layered over coloured felt, I went on to create more organs.Â
1. I started with kidneys. I created the shape I wanted using purple felt, and then added a piece of white felt to the opening to hold the electrical wires. I felt that the colour of the felt was too bright purple, so painted the kidneys with fake blood. This gave it a more realistic texture and appearance, and I used a baloon to fill the middle of the kidney so it didn’t fall flat. However, the fake blood did not dry so ran down to the bottom of the jar and had to keep being replenished. I therefore purchased a different type of fake blood (which dries) and this seemed to stick to the felt better.Â
2. Next, I created the heart specimen. I used a red-purple felt this time as it looked like a more realistic colour. I also used white for the fatty areas of the heart. I created the main body of the heart first, and then added the veins and arteries afterwards, and soaked the whole piece in fake blood. The blood made the texture look more real. Instead of using a jar, I used a metal tray because I felt that a variety of containers would look more effective than all in jars. Also, in my opinion, the heart looked more real than the kidneys so didn’t need to hide behind the glass to appear more realistic. I added grey and black wires to the tubes of felt, some of which will connect to other organs, and others (like the various plugs left on) are left hanging out onto the floor.Â
3. I wanted the organs to spill out onto the floor, and not all be contained in the containers I put them in. I created the small intestine using neutral latex over red material and filled this with play-dough to fill it out. I felt this gave a really fleshy texture, so recreated it on a larger scale (large intestine). This time, I stuffed it with cotton wool as play dough was difficult to stuff into the middle on the latex tubes. I poured fake blood into them, and as it oozed out it looked effective. I placed the large intestines in a metal bowl, and let some of the liquid stay in the base of the container. I let the intestines spill out onto the floor where they were connected to the wires. I decided to simply use an elastic band because I wanted the network of organs to look handmade, like a ‘patchwork’ reminiscent of Frankenstein’s monster.
4. Next I created the liver using purple latex. after sewing it together I filled it with water to fill it out. I then placed it in a metal bowl, and poured fake blood over the top; as the blood dried it created an interesting marbled pattern. However, I felt that the liver looked more realistic when the paint was wet, so will add more when I put it on display.Â
5. I created the pancreas out of yellow felt covered in neutral latex. I stuffed this into a bottle and filled it with a mix of water and fake blood. I liked the way in which the dark liquid obscured the latex object inside, so it is unclear what it really is. The liquid did however change the colour of the latex, and it now appears more white than yellow.
Overall I was pleased with the textile organs I created. I felt that there was no need to create every organ in the human body, and I had a wide enough variety to create a complete network. After I arranged the brain and eyeball into jars, they seemed too dry and fake compared to the other pieces.
‘Allegories of Origins: Frankenstein after the Enlightenment’ by Ian Balfour
p787-789
I was particularly interested in this evaluation of Mary Shelley’s novel because it is more concerned with the character of Frankenstein’s monster and whether it is really human.
Balfour describes the monster’s ‘procreation sequence’:
1. He experiences a multiplicity of sensations, confused and indistinct
2. He distinguishes among and sharpens the senses
3. He hungers, thirsts, and feels the need to find food (specifically berries)
4. He feels fright
5. He experiences cold and needs to acquire clothes
6. His ideas become more distinct
7. He hears bird sounds and tries to imitate their ‘songs’ but his expression is ‘uncouth and inarticulate’ leaving him frightened by the sound he produces
8. He discovers fire
9. He learns how to keep the fire alive
10. He longs for food and shelter
11. He discovers others, a family
The sequence of events is similar to the way that humans have developed, such as their use of fire. Therefore this suggests that the monster is in fact human in terms of his instincts.Â
Balfour goes on to compare the creation of Frankenstein to the creation of Adam and Eve.Â
‘It is important that the creature comes into the world fully formed, not as an infant or child. Adam and Eve are, to judge from the Bible’s story, the only humans ever not to have undergone a process of growing up.’ This links the monster’s creation to the biblical story and he was created similarly to Eve, from the body parts of another human. Therefore, despite not having a normal human childhood stage, the monster appears to still be human in the same way as Adam and Eve.
The monster’s character, physical makeup and ‘birth’ all elude to him being human. However, the other characters are afraid of him due to his unsightly appearance and giant stature and therefore outcast him as a supernatural, unhuman being. Balfour refers to this as an ‘aesthetic-ideological regime of the normal.’
This article gave me a different perspective on the character of Frankenstein’s monster, and consider what really makes us human. The fact that he did not have a human ‘birth’ but one inspired by the creation of Eve seems to be a determining factor that makes him unhuman in the eyes of the other characters and Shelley’s contemporaries.Â
I watched the 2015 film, Victor Frankenstein, to get a wider spectrum of versions of the gothic horror story to refer to. The trailer above shows a brief insight into the film.
I found that this film was more focused on the characters of Victor and his assistant Igor rather than the more important plot line of the creation of Frankenstein’s monster. It did not bring anything new to the story, and therefore I found it uninteresting. However, I was inspired by the setting and props in the background of Frankenstein’s workshop, but felt that they did not appear to be authentic.
This article gave a brief summary of the process a human body goes under after it has been donated to medical research. The body is first embalmed, which involves a vigorous cleaning process ready to be preserved using chemicals. The relevant tissues or organs are then removed by highly trained professionals, so they do not get damaged. Formaldehyde is the main chemical used to preserve the bodies, and gives the specimens a chemical smell.Â
Reading this article reminded me of the mummification process from Ancient Egypt. I took my research further into historical organ preservation.Â
- The Ancient Egyptians mummified their dead because they believed in an afterlife in which a person would need their body. Organs would be removed and the body would be wrapped in linen bandages, hardened using plant oils and resins.
- Mellification is a preservation process that begins before death; in Ancient Chinese medicine, a person would begin by only consuming honey until their death. The body would then be steeped in honey to preserve it, and later the candied mummy would be eaten for its medicinal benefits.
I drew some illustrations from my photography, inspired by medical drawings I looked at earlier in the project. I felt that these looked effective, and would work well with the other 2D works I have made. However, my classmates felt that my fake organs were more effective and interesting to display for a final piece.Â
In the morning, Caitlin and I set up the Industrial gallery: we opened the doors, turned on lights and turned on the TVs. We then had to walk around every part of the museum and gallery to count the number of donation boxes, and locate them on a map. I was interesting to see the museum before it had been set up for the day, as it was very dark without any lights on.Â
We then returned to the Roman object handling for the first hour of the day, and then stood in the medieval art gallery up until lunch. After lunch we once again stood outside the Staffordshire Hoard, and then had some time to complete our work booklets.The last section of the booklet had questions about our own opinions on the museum, such as favourite painting and our own ideas for an exhibition.Â
We went to the manager’s office to get our booklets signed and to get feedback.Â
For the last 45 minutes of the day, we went down to the learning zone to help with an Anglo-Saxon weaving workshop.
Overall, I really enjoyed my work experience. I felt that it was beneficial for me to see how a museum is run and also to learn about the history and objects in the museum itself. Based on this experience, I would like to work in a museum or gallery, however I am more interested in curation rather than working with children or engaging with visitors.Â
Today I was sent to the learning zone for the morning session, but as soon as I arrived the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate the building. We made our way the muster point and waited to be allowed back into the building. We quickly set up some children’s toys at one area of the classroom, and then invited our first visitors to participate in the activity.Â
It was quiet, so I was then moved to the Roman artefact handling table as it was much busier. I kept a record of how many adults and children visited the acitivity, and helped to explain what some of the objects were. After an hour here, I went to supervise the Pre-Raphaelite galleries. I walked around the galleries with Caitlin and asked people to not touch the paintings, and gave directions.
After lunch, we were located outside the Staffordshire Hoard Gallery; we counted how many visitors going into the gallery and gave directions. For the rest of the afternoon we returned to the Roman artefacts table.Â
I enjoyed working on the Roman artefact handling activity because I have a keen interest in ancient history, and I felt I was learning more about the objects while I was helping to show them to visitors. Standing in the galleries has become quite repetitive, and I was surprised that I preferred working on the children’s activities towards the end of the week, whereas at the beginning of the week I preferred it in the galleries.Â
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