As a musician, songwriter, and poet, I have been engaged in many discussions with other “artists” about what constitutes art. Some of these discussions have dealt mainly with traditional notions of art forms — painting, music, writing, theater, and dance. Other discussions have gotten more “out of the box,” evaluating the merits of expanding the notions of what constitutes art to include things such as teaching, psychology, and dentistry.
As someone who considers himself an artist, I have a fairly broad definition of the term. I am happy to acknowledge the fact that people can become artists in almost any realm, provided that they approach their discipline from the perspective of an artist. Of course, this is a very vague statement, but this blog is not really about defining what it means to be an artist or make art.
This blog is about a plastic surgeon who agrees with my philosophy that art can be found in almost any domain. In fact, he feels so strongly about the fact that his plastic surgery is art that he has put it on display at an art expo in TriBeCa, New York.
“I Am Art: An Expression of the Visual & Artistic Process of Plastic Surgery” is currently on display at Apexart in TriBeCa. The expo is being put on by Anthony C. Berlet, a New Jersey plastic surgeon who also has training as an architect and medical illustrator. The expo is displaying the work of Berlet and three other plastic surgeons: Antonio Cassissi, a pediatric plastic surgeon; Michael Cohen, a breast surgery specialist; and Scott Spiro, a body contouring specialist.
Berlet considers the human body to be his palette and the operating room to be his studio. The tools he uses to create his art include a variety of cutting, clamping, probing, and sewing devices, along with an array of digital and laser technologies.
Of course, Berlet and his colleagues generally create living art, and the people who most commonly appreciate their artistry are those men and women who have received a cosmetic makeover at their hands. However, for the purposes of this art expo, the four plastic surgeons have chosen to display their work in the form of photos and videos of their patients.
The images on display encompass every aspect of the process. You will see pictures and videos of patients before, during, and after their surgery. You will see images of people being stitched up and shots of the surgeons in action. Needless to say, you will need to have a strong tolerance for blood and guts to get through this expo.
Berlet has also chosen to make some distinctions as to which types of plastic surgery constitute art and which do not. For example, he does not consider a basic facelift to be art. According to Berlet, it is a “rote operation that can be taught to anyone.” Since it is very standard and requires no creativity, it is not real art.
On the other hand, procedures which are slightly more complex and provide the “artist” with a larger variety of options and manipulations should be considered art. For example, rhinoplasty provides the necessary aesthetic background to be art. Each palette (nose) is unique and requires creative and imaginative decisions to properly shape it in a manner that will be both aesthetically pleasing and functional.
Furthermore, Berlet contends that as with other forms of art, plastic surgery presents the “artist” with a challenge of adhering to principles of taste and appropriateness. There is a fine line between doing too little, just enough, or too much to your patients. If a plastic surgeon errs on either side of what is just right, the results will be aesthetically unpleasing, much as with other more traditional works of art.
Of course, this is all very subjective, especially when you are trying to declare that some types of plastic surgery are art while others are not. Would you then consider certain procedures to be high art, for example the equivalent of “The God Father” while others are more examples of low art, possibly the equivalent of “Starship Troopers”?
Regardless of your thoughts on this matter, it makes for an excellent debate and a great discussion at a bar on a Friday night. If you live in the New York metropolitan area and have a strong enough stomach to handle it, you can still view the expo for a few more days.
Leave a Reply