The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Roy Calne: The art in medicine Posted: 20 May 2013 01:27 AM PDT
Both are concerned with form, processes of observation, and require precise visual and manual skills. Ever since the Renaissance, when Da Vinci's skilful anatomical drawings and the illustrations of revolutionary anatomist Andreas Vesalius's works led to new levels of accuracy for both figurative art and anatomical understanding, scenes of a medical nature have abounded in art. From the historical to the deeply personal, from Rembrandt's The Anatomy Lesson of Dr Nicolaes Tulp, to Thomas Eakins' The Agnew Clinic, through Van Gogh's portraits of Dr Gachet, Barbara Hepworth's Hospital Drawings and even Damien Hirst's pseudo-anatomical sculptures, art has both documented and contributed to the state of clinical medicine since its early days. That the work of Sir Roy Calne – the extraordinary medical scientist who is also a dedicated and energetic artist – takes a proud place in this tradition, should come as no surprise. Calne had always enjoyed art and drawing, but as a young boy he could hardly have imagined the influence it was to have on his life and his provision of medical care. Calne, like most doctors, believes that both the "process of surgery as an art and as a science is always to be aware that the patient is at the centre of all considerations, everything should be done to give the patient the best chance of alleviating suffering and hopefully providing a cure." Art, by contrast, he considers to be "mainly concerned with emotions", and, when made well, serves its purpose in a quasi-religious form by "uplifting the soul." Whereas Calne's astounding medical achievements have, for decades, transformed the physical wellness of patients, his art has contributed to their spiritual recovery. Sitting with his patients whilst painting them transformed the traditionally formal, and often intimidating doctor-patient relationship, delivering a more informal space for the expression of the patient's concerns, fears and queries. It put critically ill people at ease, providing entertainment, distraction and attention of a non-clinical nature. This approach was particularly beneficial to young children, who were often frightened by the hospital setting and unpleasant medical treatments. Sitting for their portraits, they could feel special, and build up a friendly and trusting relationship with the surgeon who, until this point, could only be a figure of fear. Calne is best known as one of the pioneers of modern medical science. A key player in the development of organ transplantation as a viable treatment for otherwise incurable organ failure, his research and his surgical skills have saved countless lives across the globe. He was initially drawn into the dramatic world of transplant surgery when to most people the idea still belonged to the realms of science fiction.
He was bluntly told by a consultant that the idea was impossible. His fellow students told him to keep his radical questions quiet. But a seed had been planted, and shortly afterwards, at a time when only one successful transplant – the donation of a kidney from one identical twin to the other in Boston – had ever been performed, Calne was part of a select, courageous and maverick group of physicians who were striving to realizing this "impossible" dream. Now his scientific career boasts an impressive number of firsts; the first European liver transplant, the UK's first intestinal transplant and the first successful global combined heart, lungs and liver, and combined stomach, intestine, pancreas, liver and kidney cluster transplants. In addition to surgical excellence, Calne's vitally important research into immunosuppressants, including cyclosporine, proved key to developing a solution to graft rejection. Though Calne had long painted his patients, it was upon meeting renowned Scottish painter John Bellany that Calne's artwork matured. Bellany was dying of liver failure, and Calne was responsible for the graft that saved his life. When Bellany came round from the operation, weak and in critical condition, he immediately requested paints and paper to document his condition. He was about to produce a brilliant and emotive series of medical art: his Addenbrookes Hospital Series.
They painted reciprocal portraits of one another, and Bellany taught Calne to use "the brightest, strongest pigments available" instead of the "dull" colours he had been using before. This technique is characteristic of Bellany's work and has come to be a major part of Calne's own practice. Paintings full of vibrant and energetic hues developed. The two remain close friends, and the naïve expressiveness of Bellany's influence can still be seen in Calne's works, lending them a new strength and boldness of vision. Around 1998, Calne took up sculpture as well, challenging himself with the three dimensional form – an area that he shows natural talent for. His bronzes have delighted viewers with their movement, and as with his paintings, their energy. Like many artists before him, Calne has sometimes used his art to document progressions in medicine – particularly his own field, recognising that being one of the first surgeons involved in the development of transplant surgery has granted him a unique opportunity to preserve its history through his paintings.
He has even painted Lolypop, the dog on whom he performed the first successful kidney graft using azathiopurine, a drug which significantly delayed the rejection of a transplanted organ. The dog, who, presented by Calne at a groundbreaking international conference, proceeded to emphasise how very much alive and well he was by licking the faces of those sat on the front row, here frolics amidst a riot of brightly coloured carpets, curtains and rugs, the eye-popping pigments expressing the vitality that pervades Calne's work. Whether he depicts a scene from an operating theatre, a sick patient, a landscape or even a traditional still life of a vase of flowers, each and every piece is an energetic celebration of the gift of life. The Art of Giving – Solo exhibition by Sir Roy Calne April 8-July 8 Shalini Ganendra Fine Art @ Gallery Residence, No. 8 Lorong 16/7B, Section 16, 46350 Petaling Jaya Tues - Saturday 11am - 7pm; Tel: +603 7960 4740 |
| Our emotions match music to colours Posted: 20 May 2013 12:29 AM PDT
Mozart's jaunty "Flute Concerto No. 1 in G major" is most often associated with bright yellow and orange, whereas his somber "Requiem in D minor" is linked to bluish gray, the findings revealed. US researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, recruited nearly 100 subjects for a study on music and colour, with half of the subjects residing in the San Francisco Bay Area and the other half in Guadalajara, Mexico. "The results were remarkably strong and consistent across individuals and cultures and clearly pointed to the powerful role that emotions play in how the human brain maps from hearing music to seeing colours," said lead author and UC Berkeley vision scientist Stephen Palmer. Using a 37-colour palette, the UC Berkeley study found that people tend to pair faster-paced music in a major key with lighter, more vivid, yellow colours, whereas slower-paced music in a minor key is more likely to be teamed up with darker, grayer, bluer colours. "Surprisingly, we can predict with 95 percent accuracy how happy or sad the colours people pick will be based on how happy or sad the music is that they are listening to," said Palmer. In three experiments, the subjects listened to 18 classical music pieces that varied in tempo (slow, medium, fast) and in major versus minor keys. In the first experiment, participants were asked to pick five of the 37 colours that best matched the music to which they were listening. Separately, they rated each piece of music on a scale of happy to sad, strong to weak, lively to dreary, and calm to angry. The researchers add that the findings could have implications for creative therapies, advertising and even music player gadgetry. For example, they could be used to create more emotionally engaging electronic music visualizers, computer software that generates animated imagery synchronized to the music being played. Currently, the colours and patterns appear to be randomly generated and do not take emotion into account, researchers said. Palmer will present the study's findings at the International Association of Colour conference at the University of Newcastle in the UK on July 8. Findings were also published online this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Next, the research team plans to study participants in Turkey where traditional music employs a wider range of scales than just major and minor. "We know that in Mexico and the US the responses are very similar," Palmer said. "But we don't yet know about China or Turkey." – AFP-Relaxnews |
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