Imaging the Body Home Page Fall/ Winter 2002/2003
The Evergreen State College

 

This two-quarter Core program is designed to integrate anatomy, physiology, life drawing, and yoga to provide a more extensive and holistic approach to understanding the figure, from personal, structural, and artistic perspectives.
Artists traditionally learn to draw the human figure by (1) drawing from a live model and (2) through studying the skeletal and muscular systems in books. This way of seeing and understanding the body places the artist’s focus on the model and creates an image of the body as "other"—a being or system outside the artist’s personal experience. We will address this split by integrating our work in figure drawing with a detailed introduction to human anatomy and physiology, along with a weekly yoga session. The experiential exploration of human anatomy as experienced from within through the discipline of yoga will create another image of the body to deepen our understanding.
Another image of the body will be explored through an introduction to anatomy and physiology. Understanding the body as a series of complex and integrated tissues, structures, and systems will broaden the overall appreciation of the variety of body images that exist. Other various images of the body will be explored as themes during winter quarter—Death, Dying and Disorder; Images of the body (Beauty and Aesthetics).

Central Goals
One of the main goals of this program is to explore and sustain the rich complexities of the body: its sophisticated anatomy and physiology; its ability to move with precision; its expressive power; its growth, maturity, and deterioration. We will also explore how, in the face of the body's enormous complexity, we often generalize and constrain our understanding of the human body.
The dominant view of the body has changed dramatically over time. We will examine how social and cultural forces influence images of the body.

Questions that are central to our program include:

o How does our perception of the shape, color, and function of bodies impact our understanding of others and ourselves?
o What are the dominant images of the body that we currently hold?
o How can we develop an integrated understanding of ourselves and our bodies through science, art, and movement of the physical body?
o How will an experiential understanding of anatomy through yoga and drawing change our perception of the human form?
o Historically, western culture has viewed the body as separate and distinct from the intellect, emotions, and spirit.  How has this distinction affected the way we view bodies?
o What is beauty and how do we perceive it?
o How do we view depictions of the body differently, e.g. fashion, sports, fine art, pornography, medicine, dance, etc.?
o How do we develop a process to evaluate information we encounter in this program?
Texts
Spectacular Bodies: The Art and Science of the Human Body from Leonardo to Now by Martin Kemp, Marina Wallace 
Understanding Human Anatomy and Physiology  by Sylvia Mader packaged with The Dynamic Human CD. 
An Atlas of Anatomy for Artists by Fritz Schider 
Privilege, Power, and Difference by Allan G. Johnson WCB/McGraw-Hill; ISBN: 0767422546 
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman Vintage Books; ISBN: 0679735666 
Biology As Ideology: The Doctrine of DNA by Richard C. Lewontin 
Woman:  An Intimate Geography by Nathalie Angier
Credits:
Evaluations will be based on attendance and participation in program activities as well as written work—see covenant for more details. Credits will be awarded in Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology, Introduction to Figure Drawing, Introduction to Western Art Appreciation, and Expository Writing
Faculty Name Phone email Location
Paul Przybylowicz 360 867-6476 przybylo@evergreen.edu Lab II, rm 3271
Lisa Sweet 360 867-6763  sweetl@evergreen.edu Seminar, rm 3168 

 
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Made by: Paul Przybylowicz
email: przybylo@evergreen.edu
Last modified: 1/6/03 prp