Anatomy

Ali Kazma (Turkey)

Galata Greek Primary School

“Anatomy is a video shot at a medical school in Istanbul. The students are examining and learning from a cadaver under the supervision of their professor. The dead body, as has been the case for many centuries, becomes a guide and model for learning the subtleties of the various intricate systems within it. The body, stripped from layers of clothes and skin, presents itself to the professional gaze of would-be doctors who are once again touching, poking and feeling the flesh and learning from the dead.” –AK

Ali Kazma is an Istanbul based video artist. His video series titled Resistance investigates the ways in which the human body is manipulated, intervened upon, emancipated, or restricted. Part of this series, Anatomy is a single-channel video depicting an undergraduate anatomy class. A human body lies exposed on a dissection table, its arms extended to each side producing a cruciform figure. The view of the cadaver shocks then becomes familiar as the initial uneasiness gradually subsides.