Donation of organs and tissues: the centrality of the heart and the emergence of the brain expressed in an art project

The centrality of the heart and emergence of the brain in texts by participants in the artistic action 'Donations of the Body', produced in order to become candidates to receive an organ, in the form of an artistic object, are analyzed based on contributions by authors who theorize about the body contemporarily. This action was developed with the aim of provoking tension at the intersection between the fields of arts and sciences. Participants were put in the place of recipients waiting for transplants and, simultaneously, artists seeking space to exhibit their works. One of the significant points shown during the research is also analyzed: a point that can be called symbological and phantasmatic, and is present in the discourse on transplants. Finally, the centrality attributed to the heart (the seat of emotions), in competition with the brain (the organ representing rationality and instances of 'government of the self'), is discussed.

Directed tissue donation; Heart; Cerebrum; Art