The perfect smile

With Joanna Brinton (Artist) & Anisha Gupta (student dentist)

Working to develop ideas by dental student Anisha Gupta, Joanna Brinton facilitated discussions around issues relating to cosmetic dentistry, aesthetic medicine and self-image. How have historical and cultural ideals around appearance and beauty influenced the profession, and how do new technologies influence our ideas of ‘perfection’? When does a physical imperfection become considered a medical issue? Is it ethical to perform invasive procedures for purely aesthetic outcomes? Are social spaces like Instagram allowing us to diversify our concept of beauty, or is the drive towards fixing ‘flaws’ creating a utopian yet uniform vision of physical beauty? Students contributed through #selfies or photographs of their own smiles, as well as through bespoke group workshops which playfully explored these themes.

For more infomation about the artist see her website here: http://www.joannabrinton.org

This project was part of Utopia: A Year of Imagination and Possibility, a collaboration between Somerset House, King’s College London and the Courtauld Institute of Art. 

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A Utopia 2016 commission

Paths to Utopia

A collection of art work collaborations between artists, performers, architects, technologists and…