The Bone Machine by Robert Camacho is an expression of failure and frustration at the limitations of medical science. It is an attempt to bridge the gap between expectations and reality of what can be accomplished in this field. The center panel of the piece represents the operating table where a botched surgery is in progress. Surrounded by a pool of blood, the 'patient' is being treated by the surgical instrument/scalpel coming out of the side wall. The two side panels are the working 'guts' of the machine; their antique meters and tubes in sharp contrast to the modern era this advanced piece of technology is supposed to have been created in. The date on the plaque, January 2001, is symbolic and not the actual date the artwork was created. It represents the beginning of the new century with all the promise of progress and technical advancement associated with it. Unfortunately, at times, our knowledge of medicine and our ability to heal the sick is little more advanced than folkloric witch-doctors.